86.RU 2024: Mother's Search, Volleyball, Condemned Homes, Cat Cafe
Happy New Year, dear readers! This year we worked hard to find heroes and stories—all to keep you interested. Finally, we are publishing a review of the best articles from 86.RU this year. Enjoy.
“I won«t accept he»s dead until they return the body.” A woman from Yugra searches for her son missing in the special military operation for almost a year
Danil was 21 when he secretly signed a contract for the special military operation without telling his mother. At the time, the young man lived with his girlfriend, worked as a programmer, and did not need money. When it was discovered, Danil told his mother he would go serve in a military unit in Tajikistan.
But he was sent to the DPR (Donetsk People«s Republic). Danil served there for 4 months and then went missing during a combat mission. His mother Olesya wrote letters to the Ministry of Defense, called commanders, and appealed to officials, but it yielded no results—she was told to »wait.« Then the woman from Yugra went to Rostov herself, where she heard that all that remained of her son were »only legs, boots, and pants—nothing more.« Later, Olesya found out her son was not the only one sent to the DPR instead of Tajikistan.
But Daniil«s body»s location is unknown. Formally, he is listed as missing in action. The woman was offered to declare her son dead and receive the due payments of several million rubles (at current rates, tens of thousands of dollars), but she refused. All Olesya wants is to find her child«s body. Correspondent Katerina Abdullova spoke with her.
Karpol«s medals and figurines hunted by world museums: a man from Yugra amassed a unique collection
Where do you think a huge collection of 10,000 exhibits, all dedicated to volleyball, is kept? Maybe in a themed museum? In fact, it was assembled single-handedly by Surgut resident Stanislav Rudenko.
Stanislav is an honored coach of Russia, having raised more than one generation of Yugra athletes, and a true volleyball fan. The Yugra resident«s collection began with a simple badge dedicated to the 1980 Olympics, which he bought as a schoolboy and attached to his jacket lapel.
Over time, Stanislav«s shelves and drawers began to fill with other badges, cups, certificates, unique medals and figurines, literature, and balls. The athlete hunted for some exhibits for years: for example, a handmade Argentine plate from 1949, which he acquired in Peru for $9,000. The Surgut resident displayed his collection at the Olympics in Brazil, and world museums contacted him trying to buy the rare and valuable exhibits. But without success.
About Stanislav and his unique collection, 86.RU correspondent Anastasia Shevyakova told the story here.
Floors collapsed and walls tilted: how residents of Yugra survive in condemned houses—photo report
Condemned houses are a headache for the authorities of Yugra. According to them, resettlement from such housing is proceeding ahead of schedule and exceeding the plan. But some residents of these «emergency houses» have to wait their turn for many years.
A resident of Khanty-Mansiysk contacted our editorial office. Her apartment is in a condemned building, and living there is unbearable. There used to be a river nearby that constantly flooded the wooden house. This caused the beams to rot, and a hole appeared under the house where water accumulates in spring.
Inside—a sagging floor and crumbling walls, with paint peeling off in layers. The residents do their best to preserve the house: they independently changed the electrical panel, did cosmetic repairs, and raised the floors in the apartment. Despite the pitiful state of the wooden house, people maintain order, as evidenced by a cleared path and a broom with a dustpan in the entrance.
86.RU correspondent Maria Grishkina visited the condemned house, found out how people survive there, and what the administration says about it—see our photo report.
“I wanted to show there«s a place for kindness in the world.” How a cafe in Khanty-Mansiysk saved hundreds of cats and then closed
Since 2018, an unusual place has been operating in Khanty-Mansiysk—a cafe and shelter simultaneously. «Kotofeynya» took in cats that volunteers found on the street, treated, fattened up, and left to live right in the establishment. Anyone could come, pet the pets, and play with them. And if someone particularly liked a cat—take it forever and give it a new home. There was only a symbolic fee for entry; this money bought food, litter, and medicine for the cats. They spared no money or effort to cure a furry ward—they could spend about 200,000 rubles (over $2,000 at current rates) on one cat.
Thus, in six years of existence, «Kotofeynya» placed several hundred cats. And in February, it closed forever. 86.RU correspondent Sabina Safronova tells the touching story of the cat cafe that saved many strays but turned out to be unnecessary for the city in this article.
