How do you break the monotony when you’re cut off from the outside world by thousands of miles of frozen tundra and must survive a long winter featuring some of the most bone-chilling temperatures on the planet? The residents of Yakutia — one of the harshest regions of Russia — dispel the cold and isolation with an annual tournament in the village of Khatastyr highlighted by a series of reindeer races. RT America reports.
Authorities in Yakutia have declared a state of emergency, citing growing dangers to the public and to livestock due to roving packs of wolves. The Soviet republic plans to cull the size of the wolf population and has issued orders to hunt down 3,000 of them over the next three months. Nearly the size of India, Yakutia is a sparsely populated republic that serves as a primary anchor of Siberia. Fewer than one million Yakuts and Russians live in an area totaling close to 1.2 million square miles. More from RT America.
