"Fifty-six men from Kerchomya have gone to fight in Ukraine, nearly 1,500 miles from home, according to the village head, Olga Bulysheva. That is about a third of all working-age men. Twelve have been killed, Bulysheva added. Several more are believed to be missing."
"From the start of the war, the Kremlin has sought to insulate Moscow and St Petersburg from its visible costs, keeping life in major urban centres relatively undisturbed. In rural places like Kerchomya, however, the consequences are harder to conceal."
"Like many villages in the Komi region, Kerchomya has long depended on small-scale farming and a handful of public-sector jobs. Even before the invasion of Ukraine, younger people were leaving for larger cities, while others struggled with unemployment and alcoholism. Now, local people say, positions on farms, at the post office or at the recently opened small bread factory are difficult to fill."
Kerchomya, a remote village of 700 people in Russia's Komi Republic, has experienced severe depopulation since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Approximately 56 men from the village—roughly one-third of working-age males—have been conscripted to fight, with 12 confirmed killed and several missing. The village, which already faced challenges from youth migration to cities and unemployment, now struggles to fill essential positions in farming, postal services, and local businesses. While Moscow and St. Petersburg remain relatively insulated from the war's visible costs, rural communities bear the heaviest burden, with residents describing their villages as increasingly deserted and fundamentally transformed by the conflict.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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