For five years now, Yaroslavl highway, 60 kilometers from Moscow, a 42-year-old hermit Yuri Alekseev lives in a dugout. Once a successful Moscow lawyer, he dropped everything, dug a dugout, got a rabbit and now reads books all day.

As the man admits, he is tired of the gray office life.

My employers were good people. At first they told me: well, if you don’t want to go to the office every day, then go at least three days a week. Then they offered a day, then a few hours. But I thought: why should I sit in this Moscow, pay for rent? So, what is next? Take a mortgage on some cell in a residential area? And is this life?

Dmitry Lebedev, Kommersant

Therefore, now Yuri lives in a dugout.

Englishrussia.com
Englishrussia.com

There are solar panels on the roof of the dugout, the generated electricity is stored in batteries. So Yuri always has light and connection with outside world- there is a computer and the Internet in the dugout.

Dmitry Lebedev, Kommersant
Dmitry Lebedev, Kommersant

Yuri considers his library to be the main treasure of his dwelling. All of his books are registered in the World BookCrossing Library. People who come to visit Yuri can take something to read from him and leave their books in return.

Dmitry Lebedev, Kommersant

From pets - Petrushka rabbit.

Dmitry Lebedev, Kommersant

All free time Yuri spends on reading, music, reflection and conversations with guests. The hermit does not maintain relations with relatives: they do not come to visit him. Downshifter was married, but admitted that the issues of starting a family and leaving offspring, so that there was someone to give a glass of water before death, did not bother him.

Yuri has a 33-year-old girlfriend Klara, who continues to lead a life so hated by him in Moscow: she rents a house, pays off a loan, works in the document management department. On weekends, Clara stuffs her bags with groceries and drives to the clearing. It was thanks to her efforts that solar panels, a generator, and a gas cylinder appeared here. She bought insulation for the dugout, a saw, an ax and even a water pump. But she is not ready to move to the dugout forever.

Yaroslavl-room.ru

Numerous guests also come with gifts. Yuri opened a page on the Internet "

StarHit correspondents visited Yuri in the summer of 2013. Then the man lived in an Indian wigwam, built on the side of the Yaroslavl highway near Aleksandrov, and dreamed of improving living conditions. Two years later, the 41-year-old hermit met us in a solar-powered dugout, where he moved with his rabbit Petrushka. StarHit found out how Yuri's life has changed since our first visit.

back to nature

Yuri admits that the decision to drop everything and go to the forests matured gradually.

“It’s just that I began to think about what I spend time on,” the man shares with StarHit. - When you have stable income, profession and all the attributes of a good life, but there is no interest, it's hard not to think about such things.

The final decision to move to nature came after a trip to India, where on the ocean, a lawyer let nature take care of itself. At work, Yuri began to appear less and less, and then quit altogether. Although employers doted on him and offered to come for 4 hours a week, it was still a burden to him.

Since Yuri did not have his own housing, he drove from Pereslavl towards the capital, choosing a suitable place. I photographed the corners I liked, wrote down the coordinates and compiled tables in Excel, so that later I could slowly make a choice. The vending glade was found on the outskirts of the Aleksandrovsky district. Every year, Yuri more and more equips his life. First, the ex-lawyer built a tipi - a wigwam, later a straw hut appeared, but it burned down, and two and a half years ago he dug a winter dugout. Years later, Yuriy still sees solid advantages in his lifestyle: there are no expenses and dependence on money, you don’t have to pay taxes and rent an apartment, you can live the way you like.

He is not afraid of being asked to vacate land to which he has no rights. He is friends with the law, knows the intricacies of such cases and is sure that no one is interested in doing such things. “Power should not interfere with a person's life, otherwise it is not power,” he calmly declares.

FROM WHAT WAS

Yuri built the house from improvised materials. For example, carton boxes truckers brought him to live, and the pipes were found in a landfill. Some of the things, including equipment, the hermit took from past life. At 20 square meters dugouts, he placed a sleeping corner with a table, shelves with books, a technical corner with a computer, batteries and other equipment, a kitchen with a sink and a wood-burning stove. A tiny nook is set aside for a toilet with a shower, where the light is turned on by clapping your hands and a semblance of a sewer is equipped - dirty water goes down the pipe into the ground.

If earlier a lawyer bathed in a stream, and in the cold months he moved to live in someone's dacha, now he hibernates without leaving his familiar place. Yuri receives electricity from solar panels and a small generator. The dugout has the Internet, sewerage and intercom - there is nothing strange in the fact that he lives in comfort, he believes modern hermit. Heating is more difficult. According to Yuri, it is not difficult to warm up to 10 degrees, but to bring it to 15-20, it will take a lot of effort, time and firewood. In summer, Yuri uses a tipi, next to which there is a hammock with an awning, a summer table with chairs, and closer to the New Year, he even decorates the Christmas tree.

Another dugout was built in the neighborhood - for guests who are ready to stay overnight. By the way, they often appear here: sometimes acquaintances, sometimes just curious people look into the dugout. There are dozens of visitors a day. Many people come for a tour. Yuri gladly receives people, invites them to tea and discusses with them.

“This is one way of knowing the world and yourself,” he says. The beloved woman Clara also comes to him, she did not leave her knight without a horse. They have been together for several years and meet regularly, and the rest of the time they communicate via Skype. True, she is not yet ready to leave her job and move to a dugout. If you ever get tired of talking to tourists, he promises to just put up a “Do Not Disturb” sign.

ONE DAY

“There is always something new going on here. I wake up in the morning and my whole day is alone big job. I don’t have a strict schedule, I have the necessary things to do - cook food, bring water. I also need to walk the rabbit - this is my new friend, ”he explains. In food, Yuri is not picky, he cooks simple stew or coffee on a wood-burning stove. The main products in the dugout are peas, flour, butter. By the way, all the years Yuri does not use money, which he simply does not have, and does not go to stores. He eats what he himself gets in the forest, and the gifts that tourists bring. Thanks to their visits, fruits and sweets appear on the table, and new things in the house. However, the savage is sure that he can easily do without these benefits. He also does not get out to the city - he does not want to, and the need has not yet arisen. He had not been to the hospital or the barbershop since he settled in the forest. He had to meet with a doctor once, when in the forest he accidentally injured his leg with an ax. Fortunately, a friend came to visit, who lived nearby for 10 days and even called a doctor.

Yuri is often asked if it's boring to live like this - without entertainment and away from the world? A man only grins at such questions and shows a laptop with an Internet connection - this is how he learns the news and watches movies. In addition, the inhabitant of the dugout reads a lot. Another hobby that has emerged in the last couple of years is bookcrossing. Yuri collects books and gives those who wish something to read.

“It doesn’t get boring over the years,” he notes. But the idea to open a music salon by the road, which he shared with StarHit three years ago, was temporarily abandoned. Yuri believes that he is an ordinary person.

“There is nothing outstanding about me. I do not like to exist in the city, to fight for survival in the metropolis. I do not associate myself with a hermit or a downshifter - I just chose this lifestyle. Life is arranged, you don’t have to work, you don’t need to pay for an apartment either, there is enough communication with people - everything is fine. Fate itself will help me find a way out of any situation,” he says.

Have you ever wondered if you feel comfortable living in your apartment? Could you change city life not just for rural life, and let's say the life of a hermit in a dugout?

But 42-year-old Yuri Alekseev could.

About 6 years ago, Yuri, a former Moscow lawyer who graduated with honors from the institute, left the comfort of the city and settled in a dugout at 106 km of the Yaroslavl highway.

Yuri, a native of Stary Oskol, lived, worked, rented an apartment in Moscow, was also married, went abroad to rest. But somehow Yuri realized that he was suffocating from city life. That there is no freedom of thought, harmony in the soul, and then he abandoned everything and chose the life of a hermit.

When my family and I, having left Pereslavl-Zalessky, were returning home, I saw a strange large poster on the road. On it was written - "The Hobbit Hermit".

To be honest, I had already read about this place before, so I decided to park and visit Yuri.

To my question - Do you live here permanently?

Yuri clarifies with a smile. - Here? Do you mean on planet Earth? Yes, constantly, for a long time, several million years. We tried closer to the sun, but it's hot there.

And he takes a globe in his hand, “Look, here it is,” Yuri tells me.

Unfortunately, Yuriy was a little busy, and therefore I did not take his time with my questions. I just asked permission to take a few photos.

Anyone driving along the highway can call on a hermit to visit. The Russian Hobbit, as the Western press dubbed him, is very hospitable. He has his Youtube the channel on which he posts his life story. By the way, here is the business card given to me by Yuri.

He built his dugout for 2 months, and has been living in it for 4 years already, before that he had a straw house, which burned down due to careless handling of the stove.

On the roof of the dugout, solar panels with batteries are installed, which allow him to use electrical appliances.

Yuri eats mainly peas, which fills soy sauce and oil, says that it is a very nutritious product. But sometimes he accepts other food as a gift from all passing guests.

He does not refuse small financial assistance, which he uses mainly to pay the bill for the Internet and mobile communications.

Yuri good-naturedly allowed me to take a few photos for memory, but his girlfriend Clara was shy and asked her not to take pictures. Clara works in Moscow just like Yuri used to, in a stuffy office. Until she finds the strength to leave the comforts of city life and move to permanent place residence in a dugout. She visits the hermit on weekends, brings food. By the way, at that moment when I drove into the dugout, the girl was going to return to Moscow.

This is the intercom you need to call if you decide to visit the hermit.

And here is the entrance to the dugout itself.

To get inside, you have to bend down.

And this is how it is inside.

And of course, where without a pet. Dog? No! Cat? - No!

Rabbit! Named Petrushka.

There is a heap on the roof, either antennas, or just some long sticks.

And this is instead of a fence.

Hammock for rest.

There are a lot of books everywhere.

In the past, Yuri Alekseev is a successful Moscow lawyer. Seven years ago, he quit his job and moved to live in a dugout on the Yaroslavl Highway. The curiosity of the media helped him create the image of a hermit who refused comforts. And this is despite the fact that there is a computer in Yuri's house, solar battery, telephone and even intercom for intruders. On the wave of general interest, the man started his YouTube channel and began to upload videos under the pseudonym The Hobbit Hermit. It now has over 100,000 subscribers. Yury's popularity was also increased by his attitude towards Alexei Navalny. The man regularly installs art objects next to his home - symbols of his oppositional views. Several times the local administration ordered the man to get rid of them.

The hermit's dugout is located on the 106th kilometer of the Yaroslavl highway.Finding her is not difficult, she stands right next to the track, surrounded by three handwritten posters. On each inscription: “The Hobbit Hermit. YouTube". Nearby there was a place for an actual political protest against raising the retirement age. On signs resembling road signs, the numbers 63 and 65 are crossed out.



Voices come from the open door. The hobbit cheerfully explains something to his interlocutors. He notices me and the photographer and smiles: “Sorry for not meeting you. I just have guests. Yuri offers his hand, and I go down to him, touching the doorway with the back of my head. Hurt.

Outwardly, the dugout resembles the house of Bilbo Baggins from the movie "The Lord of the Rings" - round wooden door, flat roof. True, it has a solar battery installed on it, which hobbits should not have, but this does not spoil the overall fantasy still life. Inside, there is a surprisingly high ceiling, log walls along which books are placed on the shelves, there is a small stove, a bed. We stop at the door so as not to disturb the conversation.




“So, when Vladimir Putin came to power, troubles began in Russia ...” - the Hermit addresses his interlocutors. They listen to him for about ten minutes, then interrupt and say that they have to go. Yuri sighs sadly and escorts the men.

When he comes back, I hand him two bottles of sunflower oil.

"Here. You asked to be brought,” I say. Yuri takes the bottles and holds out the money. I refuse. Present.

The hermit takes me in like an old friend. At least he tries to make it feel that way. He hospitably offers to sit down, talks about how his day went, and the shooting of the next video for the YouTube channel. During the conversation, he picks up a log, which seems to be specially prepared for our meeting, and begins to saw it. Right there, in the corner of the dugout. 2.5 hours. Saws and speaks. Saws and speaks. Sometimes complains about popularity.




“You know, I often have guests. If this continues, I will put up a sign: “Meetings by appointment only!” - complains Yuri.

I ask him about the people who came before us. The hermit, in response, talks about the importunity of the public and how tired he is of answering the same questions.

“They ask: “How do you live here?”, “How is your day?” If you ask such questions, I can still answer, because you are a journalist. I am for you good material. I don't want to answer them. Why do people need to know all this? - says the man.

True, such meetings have their advantages, the owner admits. For example, products that guests bring. But the man immediately notes that sometimes he refuses things if he understands that he does not need them.



After these words, I pay attention to a strange structure with products tied with a rope to the ceiling. Boxes with gingerbread, dryers, cookies and sweets stick out of it. Due to the large packages of sweets, the design sways slightly in different directions. Rope cabinet, something, I think.

Yuri notices where I’m looking and continues in a satisfied tone: “You see, I’m just in front of everyone and I don’t hide from anyone, that’s why people are so interested. In addition, I made everything so attractive that you all go to me, and not me to you, ”he explains.

The hobbit is lying. For its popularity, you have to get out of the dugout. For example, in May of this year, he, along with the popular blogger Amiran Sardarov, was in Chelyabinsk and starred in one of the issues of Khach's Diary.

As planned, Yuri came to Chelyabinsk to meet another local "hobbit" - Sergei Andryukov. Inhabitant Southern Urals built a whole "village of hobbits." Exact copy villages from The Lord of the Rings movie. Yuri then spent the whole day with Sergey and interviewed him for Sardarov's YouTube channel.

“Amiran said they needed an actor and offered me the role. The impressions from the trip were positive: I was treated like a star. The only drawback is that I didn’t get enough sleep then, ”says Yuri.

Yuri is talking to me, expressively leaning on the saw. Periodically, a man is distracted from the process and changes his position. Everything for the photographer to catch an interesting angle. With a saw in his hands, barefoot and bearded Yuri perfectly wins back the image of a wild hermit. He resembles Tom Hanks' character in the movie Cast Away. Only instead of the silent ball of Wilson next to Yuri is the fluffy rabbit Petrushka. He doesn't speak either, but at least he's alive.




However, the furnishings of the hut are not as well thought out as the image of the owner. There is a sense of props and pretense. A hermit who has abandoned the comforts of civilization can easily find a laptop, an iPhone, a coffee grinder, Fumitox mosquito tablets and fresh bed sheets, neatly covered by a shabby plaid. Portraits of the classics watch the guests from the walls: Chekhov, Shakespeare, Rachmaninoff. Opposite them is a crumpled leaflet with Navalny. In my head, all this does not fit with the concept of "hermit".

Several times Yuri looks into a small box with me - there is money. When asked where they come from, the hermit catches up with mysteries: “I’m on public security. That is, I am doing community service, and society provides me for it.

By "social work" Yuri means his communication with guests, as well as shooting videos. The hobbit believes that such publicity is a kind of work for which you can receive a fee in the form of food, medicine (Yuri does not deny that he uses them) or money.




“I now have 100,000 subscribers on the channel,” Yuri repeats every now and then. “If earlier power and the parameter of success were measured by money, now they are measured by subscribers in social networks.”

Yuri does not want to talk about the past. Not about parents, not about personal life. These topics are taboo. His admirers should not know about this. This will destroy the image of the "hospitable hermit."

But we talk about Alexei Navalny and the politics of Vladimir Putin for a long time. Yuri considers the oppositionist the only alternative for Russia.

“This is a man who very quickly managed to gather public attention. He has no alternative. Navalny's shares are now the most profitable and powerful on the political market. And I am ready to invest in them, ”the Hobbit shares his opinion.







We drink Turkish coffee and continue. Already without a voice recorder, I ask him: “What real reason the fact that he now lives in a dugout? Yuri replies that he became a hermit for two reasons: firstly, he had nowhere to live, and secondly, in protest.

Seven years ago, everything went downhill: he was once again asked to move out of rented apartment. And then he decided to stop. All his life he did not have his own corner and a roof over his head. First, the parental home in Stary Oskol, then a hostel, an army barracks, a hostel again and now rented housing. different districts of Moscow, different conditions. Eternal attempts to please the new owners. Loitering around rented Moscow apartments and going to an unloved (albeit prestigious) job. Tired. He dreamed of his own apartment, but even he had money for a mortgage. young specialist not enough.

Trying to decide what to do next, Yuri decided to go abroad and seek his fortune there. But here a new barrier arose. Expired passport. To get it, you had to ask for leave at work and go to Stary Oskol. True, the Moscow police, to whom he turned for help, hinted that all issues could be resolved for money. It was Last straw. Yuri is broken.

"Russia - welfare state. Budgetary funds are enough to provide the minimum needs of all citizens of the country for a roof over their heads and food. But the state machine has no such purpose. This means that our president is also the guarantor not of the rule of law, but of the regime of his power in order to enrich his family and the families of his friends, ”the hermit argues.

The man left law firm, took an old tent and settled on the Yaroslavl highway. In protest. The tent then turned into a dugout, and the homeless Yuri - into the famous Hobbit the Hermit.

“Just imagine, I worked in an office, everything was boring and monotonous. And now I have a colossal project here - 100,000 subscribers!” he exclaims.

A blog for a former lawyer is a serious project. He makes videos every day. In the vicinity of the dugout and in it itself, several filming pavilions with scenery are equipped.

The Hobbit leads a tour of creative domains. The Hollywood Film Company, that's what he calls it. Having reached the last scenery, Yuri offers to take a cool photo: he will sit in a chair with the inscription "director", looking thoughtfully and purposefully at film set. We refuse. There are too many staged photos.




After the tour we return to the dugout. She has guests again. Middle aged man and woman. They look upon the Hobbit as a saint.

“Do you really live here?” the woman asks with interest. The hobbit is silent, he goes down to his house and returns with two postcards: “There is a link to the YouTube channel. Take a look and then come visit." The couple nods and tidies up the cards: “We will definitely, definitely return!”

Yuri also gives us postcards. He signs them with a black pen and adds, "Giving autographs is part of my community service."

The Hobbit waves goodbye to me. This gesture seems rehearsed. I get into the car and imagine how, after our departure, the dugout falls with a roar, turning out to be a cardboard scenery, and Yuri himself goes into the actor's trailer, washes, gets into the car and leaves back to Moscow. Live a real life.