For five years now, on the Yaroslavl Highway, 60 kilometers from Moscow, a 42-year-old hermit, Yuri Alekseev, has been living 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 conversation 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 "

What would I say today at 43 to my past 33 year old self? - Yura repeats my question. - I would say: “Run here, to me, for 106 kilometers, leave this empty and useless life, it’s so great here, you can’t imagine!” But of course, I wouldn't believe my past self today. That I had a house, a job, money, trips abroad, a car, a refrigerator, expensive clothes... Everything that I don't have today. And what I have today and what I didn’t have in the past is completely intangible, therefore it is impossible to present as an argument: the meaning of life, harmony with oneself, freedom of expression ...

Yura constantly expresses himself. For four years he has been living on the edge of the forest, far from the cities, in a comfortable dugout with a round door - "in a hole under the ground", like Bilbo Baggins. He calls himself "a man - a cherry orchard", because he loves Chekhov very much and "preaches" his way of thinking to his numerous guests. He shoots, edits and uploads to the Internet videos about the life of a hermit, in which he shares, as he himself says, "life's wisdom and follies." He wears a fluffy red beard on his face, and tangles on his head, very similar to dreadlocks. Instead of a dog and a cat, Petruha the rabbit and Pasha the raven live with Yura. Sometimes he looks. 15 meters from the dugout, along Yaroslavl highway, Yura installed round plank shields and wrote the word "Navalny" on them in huge letters - an art object, also the fruit of his artistic self-expression. Earlier, by the way, the inscription “Dimon” flaunted on the same shields.

Downshifting technologies

The main complaint against Yura from his commentators on YouTube is inconsistency with the canons. “What kind of a hermit are you,” these kind people write, “if you live on the highway? If you have a phone with a video camera and electricity? You are a deceiver and an idler, not a hermit. Hermits must live in the deep forest, with wolves, drink from puddles and eat grasshoppers. We know!”

To this, Yura, not at all upset, replies that, they say, friends, the 21st century is in the yard, and the hermits in it can in no way be similar to their long-standing predecessors. Hermits are now like me.

On the roof of the dugout there are four solar panels and a stack of car batteries, day and night providing Yura with light, charging for his phone, the operation of a laptop (which he hardly uses) and a rather loud playback of Chekhov's audio books, completely drowning out the cars rushing along the Yaroslavl highway.

There is a modern stainless steel potbelly stove that can heat and boil peas in exchange for a negligible amount of firewood. There is a working toilet, a shower, a kind of bath and impressive stacks of books. A Toyota Corolla that has not been driven for a long time is parked by the road, and in the house, that is, a dugout, there are guests every day: friends, journalists, just passers-by, and even officials of the local administration.

Yura is an absolutely honest hermit. But not the one whom the Greeks called an anchorite, that is, a hermit monk, but a modern downshifter - a man who escaped from civilization, arranged a demarche for the “meat grinder” of the metropolis, where, according to him, one must “work all his life for the Abramovichs in order to have a roof over head." Moreover, Yura never called himself just a hermit - he is a hermit hobbit who is always glad to people.

Thanks for the beans

On the way from Moscow, I was afraid to miss the hermit camp, and starting from the 104th kilometer, I carefully looked around. The fears were in vain: the very inscription “Navalny” unmistakably reports about Yurina’s localization.

The owner is making something on a wooden cable reel that replaces his garden table. When he sees me, he quits his lesson, waves affably and goes towards me. Looking at him, I understand that in the rapidly growing popularity of the hermit, not last role appearance plays. He is petite, thin and really looks like a hobbit. Freckles are scattered across her expressive face. A lush beard of an almost unreal red-copper color. Age not determined. The movements are restrained, unhurried, he speaks a little mockingly.

Excuse me that I'm not dressed like a hobbit today, I just washed all my things in the morning, - Yura laughs and, looking into the handed bag, sees red beans there. - Oh, so you are a journalist from Lenta.ru, whom I asked to bring beans? Paul, I think? Thank you very much, I need the beans for the YouTube video: "What Hermits Eat." Actually, I eat peas, but people ask me to cook beans in the video as well.

The right to stop and listen to yourself

Beautiful places and far from the villages - I make a true compliment to the 106th kilometer.
- Yes, they are beautiful, I chose for a long time, and I looked at the cards, and looked with my eyes, - Yura continues to chuckle. - I would say that this is one of the most beautiful places 100 kilometers from Moscow.
- And you've been here for six years?
- No, constantly four years. And before that, he lived here for another year and a half, in a thatched house, which then burned down. I think that no one set it on fire - my carelessness is to blame.

According to Yura, six years ago he was exactly the same person as other Russians who received higher education and the rest to live in Moscow. Worked as a lawyer in a non-profit foundation, filmed one-room apartment on Oktyabrsky Pole, went on vacation abroad, but did not have time to take out a mortgage. But existence in the cycle of everyday life, work from bell to bell for a roof over your head, a life in which one mistake - and you are on the street, oppressed him more and more. He increasingly thought that every citizen of the earth should have the right to a tiny corner and modest food, just like that, at least for a while, to stop, think, listen to himself.

Straw and mud house

The last straw was the refusal of the deputy head of the passport office of Chertanovo-Yuzhnoye (where the civil passport was issued) to give Yura a new passport. Based on the fact that he is not registered in Moscow.

I was rude - they simply sent me to hell - a little angry with Yura's unpleasant memories. - Although I didn’t ask for a favor or some kind of preference, I asked them to fulfill their official duties, kept my civil rights. I was sent, and then I decided to stop being a citizen, but to remain first of all a man - homo sapiens, who was born on this earth and, therefore, has the right to live on it.

Officials clearly wanted motivation. Yura, on the other hand, acted radically: not only did he not give a bribe, but he abandoned his entire habitual way of life and went to live with a friend, at an empty dacha near Pereslavl-Zalessky. He spent the winter there, and then moved to neutral territory - the 106th kilometer of the Yaroslavl highway. Settled in a canvas tent.

After some time, a friend from Pereslavl, a builder of cottages, came to visit Yura. After the construction of an avant-garde elite mansion, he was left with 150 straw blocks that looked like giant bricks. He suggested and then brought them to Yura. Yura built a cozy house out of blocks, put up a potbelly stove and began to live. Gradually he smeared the house with clay from the outside, smeared it with clay from the inside, but the section of the roof adjacent to the chimney was not processed ...

So scattered

When you live in a house for a year and a half, - he complains, - you get used to it, and it starts to seem that it will be so, nothing can happen. But red-hot ash flew out of the chimney, and the house was gone. Then I built this dugout. I built it for two months, and I have been living in it for four years.

Yura says it is correct distribution effort: two months building - four years living. The released forces he spends on his hobbies and social work. For two years he was fond of bookcrossing (to the best of his ability, he ensured the circulation of books between people with the registration of these books on special sites), read a lot, “preached” Chekhov, especially “The Cherry Orchard”.

Journalists came to him, filmed his dugout, books, stove, rabbit and crow, and Yura thought that if it was so interesting, he could talk about himself. A year ago, I started learning how to shoot and edit videos using my phone, and launched my own YouTube channel. Today, the ratings of this channel are growing rapidly: a week ago, Yura had five thousand subscribers, and today there are more than nine thousand.

Car can be eaten for life

Yura does not and has never used alcohol or drugs. He tries not to smoke because he considers it a weakness. Not a vegetarian, but practically does not eat meat. Seventy percent of his diet is boiled peas with sunflower oil and soy sauce. He dilutes this food with gifts from numerous guests, but he does it more out of courtesy. He says that one bag of peas, one package of sunflower oil and one package of sauce.

The ceiling in Yurina's dugout is high - there is still a meter of space above your head. Dimensions are two by four meters. Most of the area is occupied by a podium covered with an old carpet - it also serves as a bed at night. The walls are reinforced and finished with wooden poles - not a European-style renovation, but the design is not devoid of aesthetics. There are shelves on the walls, literally bursting with books. In the far corner is a potbelly stove with one burner - for heat and cooking. Behind the door is the plaster head of Socrates. From habitual to us entertainments - tea.

Two things were bought here for money: solar panels and a modern telephone. Everything else is handmade or brought in by visitors. Yura says that everyone can do this. You need some money, but if, for example, you sell a car, it will be enough for the rest of your life. And even if in the end they were kicked out of the land under some pretext, the construction of a new dugout would take him another two months.

Where is the best law school

Yurin's day consists of three parts: communicating with guests, reading books and maintaining his YouTube channel. In his videos, Yura exploits the hermit life for the time being, but according to the idea, this is just a way to attract an audience. And the ultimate goal is to speak in the margins and between the lines: to share wisdom and nonsense, to talk about Chekhov, our society, freedom and how little a person needs to be happy.

Yura Alekseev came to Moscow from Stary Oskol. There he was born, raised and graduated from high school. Then he studied as a programmer in Belgorod, but did not graduate from high school and went into the army. Served in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. During his service, he became friends with an officer who advised Yura to receive legal education and explained that there are four worthy legal departments in the country: at St. Petersburg State University, at, at the Russian State University for the Humanities and Moscow State Law Academy. He also gave Yura a recommendation (for out-of-competition admission) to a law school, which, by the way, did not work in the places listed.

After the army, he tried twice to enter St. Petersburg State University - he did not pass. In the third year, he applied to four places at once and at the age of 24 he entered the Faculty of History, Political Science and Law of the Russian State University for the Humanities.

The unbearable burden of life

I lived in a hostel, worked as a courier, a loader, studied - in general, I was absolutely like everyone else, - Yura smiles at his memories. - In the fourth year I got a job in my specialty, at the age of 30 I received a diploma and again became like everyone else - that is, I sat at the computer in the office all day long, did some paperwork, rented an apartment. The usual typical story, of which there are millions. Was in good relations with the founders, had excellent working conditions, could eventually become a partner. He worked as a lawyer for six or seven years - enough to understand: now his life has gone, and there will never be another.

In the same years, Yura often traveled abroad, but foreign sights and alien nature quickly got tired. People have always been interesting. But why travel so far? Yura registered on a couchsurfing site (exchange of travelers) and began to host foreign guests, show the city, and communicate. People brought with them the spirit of freedom, and Yura saw that our world was a nightmare for them. Yurino's disagreement with this trouble - life in a tiny rented odnushka, in a concrete anthill, in civilized slavery - grew until it was resolved by a dugout on the side of the Yaroslavl highway.

Enraged Lamb

We talked for four hours until it began to get dark. Sometimes cars pulled off the highway. "How are you?" - asked strangers. “Why are you for Navalny?”, “What can you bring?”, “Nobody disturbs you at night?” - Passers-by are interested, shouting over the noise of the route. “The main thing is that conscience does not disturb,” Yura chuckled in response.

By the way, the hermit said that winter was not a problem for him. The dugout is wonderfully warmed up by a potbelly stove, and firewood is a forest deadwood, which is visible and invisible around.

Unfortunately, everything that Yura said cannot be conveyed in one note. How he slept on newspapers on the floor of the Kursk railway station while he took exams at Moscow State University and the Russian State Humanitarian University. What I understood from Chekhov's plays and why he loves them more than stories. And why happiness can be either here and now, or not at all.

For several years now, Yuri Alekseev has been living in a dugout near the highway.
Yuri built his dugout in two months, and has been living in it for several years.

Now many articles have already been written about Yuri Alekseev (that’s the name of the “hermit hobbit”) in various publics, and most of them begin with a story about how Yuri, being a successful Moscow lawyer, quit his highly paid job and moved to a dugout, refusing wealth. There is indeed some truth in this story, but the journalists are a little cunning.

The library is Yuri's main pride.
Yuri registers all his books in the bookcrossing system.

In fact, Yuri can hardly be called a hermit and an ascetic - he has so many guests that they often collide with each other at the door or go one after another. So that regular guests would not be so annoying, Yuri even adapted a kind of intercom - a telephone at the beginning of the path, by which guests should report who they are and for what purpose they came to him. And so that those wishing to take part in bookcrossing would not disturb Yuri once again, he took his library to a separate shed.

Hobbit hermit.
Yuri's house has electricity provided by a generator.

Yuri's asceticism is also peculiar, or one might even say hipster. His dwelling really looks more like a hobbit mink: almost everything is made of wood, a lot of carpets, rugs, bedspreads, even the door is deliberately round to make the association with hobbits even more complete. But at the same time, there is a music column above the entrance to the dugout (you can hear Yuri’s audio recordings in which he recites classical works of Russian literature from it), there are solar panels on the roof, and inside you can see a computer, a synthesizer, an audio system, a tablet, a laptop, a phone and quite stable lighting.

The road leading to Yuri's dwelling.
The road to Yuri's dwelling.

Together with Yuri lives a white rabbit named Petrushka. He also sometimes becomes a member of the Moscow Region hobbit video. Yuri even calls his channel - "Channel of the Hobbit Hermit and Petrushka."

Rabbit Parsley.
Yuri regularly shoots videos and puts them on his Youtube channel.

Seven years ago, Yuri Alekseev really moved from Moscow to the Yaroslavl highway. Then he worked as a lawyer, now - a blogger. Yuri considers his blogging to be quite a serious job, and, admittedly, he succeeds in it: now there are more than 125,000 subscribers on his Youtube channel.

Yuri constantly receives guests in his dugout.
Yuri believes that now his life is much better than the one he had in Moscow.

“If earlier power and the parameter of success were measured in money, now they are measured by subscribers in in social networks", - says Yuri Alekseev. - “Just imagine, I worked in an office, everything was boring and monotonous. And now I have a colossal project here - 100,000 subscribers!”

Yuri almost never leaves his home, preferring that he does not go to people, but they go to him.
Yuri often hosts journalists.

Almost every day, Yuri uploads a new video - sometimes about his life, sometimes he writes down his reasoning, he has quite a few videos in which he reads Chekhov, Pushkin, Turgenev and other classics aloud. Sometimes he asks his subscribers to become sponsors of his channel and transfer money to him. When journalists contact him and ask for an interview, he may also ask them to bring certain foods or medicines.

Yuri against the backdrop of a canopy with a library.
Intercom on the street.
Intercom in the dugout.

“There is nothing outstanding in me,” says Yuri. - 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, there is no need to work, there is no 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.

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 is easily found to have a laptop, an iPhone, a coffee grinder, Fumitox mosquito repellant tablets and fresh bed sheets, neatly covered by a shabby plaid. Portraits of the classics watch the guests from the walls: Chekhov, Shakespeare, Rachmaninov. 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.