Sasha, 49, nicknamed "Poltorashka" (1,5-litre beverage bottle) and Lyusya Stepanova, 44, both of whom are homeless, sit on a warm pipe with their dog Bim, as they share a meal in Omsk, Russia, December 3, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko
Like many of Siberia's homeless, Alexei Vergunov survives freezing night-time temperatures of -30 degrees Celsius by sleeping under an industrial heating pipe for warmth.
It's a perilous existence. Too far from the pipe and he could die of exposure to the cold. Too close and he could get severe burns without him noticing at first through the haze of hard alcohol that many drink to keep warm and dull reality.
Lyusya Stepanova, 44, who is homeless, smokes a cigarette after waking up, on a warm pipe in Omsk, Russia, December 23, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko
The 46-year-old has lived like this for more than 11 years.
"You sleep at night with your eyes closed but your ears open," he says.
He used to yearn for a chance to rebuild his life, but since his partner, Alyonka, died two years ago of liver cancer, he has lost the will. They had lived together near the train station.
Alexei Vergunov, 46, nicknamed "Lyokha Boroda" (Lyokha the beard), who is?homeless, has a meal during a charity event organised by Caritas, a Catholic organisation, held to distribute food and present gifts to homeless and lower-income citizens during the Christmas period in Omsk, Russia, December 26, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko
"I get through the day and that's it," he says. "If I found a woman like her, I could stop and try to return to society, but I can't find anyone like her."
Vergunov, who likes to call himself Lyokha the Beard, is one of 3,500 homeless people officially living rough in the city of Omsk, though the real figure is likely higher. He's one of the few who stop to chat and laugh with the city's home-dwellers.
"It's you that's going to freeze in your apartment with three blankets, not me between the pipes," he likes to joke.
Alexei Vergunov, nicknamed "Lyokha Boroda" (Lyokha the beard), Andrey, nicknamed "Prizrachnyy Gonshchik" (ghost rider), and Galiya, 29, all of whom are homeless, have an alcoholic drink at Vergunov's shelter in Omsk, Russia, February 16, 2020. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko
His favourite time is night. Though at its coldest, the city is quiet and he is free to roam and search a rubbish dump for glass bottles and other items he can exchange for a small sum.
Omsk, which lies three time zones east of Moscow, has a night shelter for the homeless. But it's in a distant part of town and Vergunov doesn't sleep there as the local homeless won't let him earn his keep at the nearby rubbish dump on what they see as their patch.
A charity, Caritas, hands out food and clothes to help the city's homeless, although Vergunov has also learned to be on the lookout for ill-wishers. He once saved the life of his friend, Alexander, after a group of teenagers set him on fire.
A nun checks the blood pressure of a man who is homeless, during a charity event organised by Caritas, a Catholic organisation in Omsk, Russia, October 24, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko
Sometimes misfortune and pain can nudge Omsk's homeless towards trying to change their lives.
Lyusya Stepanova, 44, is considering trying to return to society after more than 27 years on the streets. She was hospitalised last month for three weeks with serious burns across her body after she fell asleep too close to the pipes where she was sheltering.
She is now in a rehabilitation centre 30 kilometres out of town in the village of Rozovka.
A woman who is homeless, listens to a police officer as she sits on pipes in Omsk, Russia, February 11, 2020. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko
"I plan to go home, to mother," she said, though she recognises she cannot turn back the clock on 27 years on the street. "My childhood dreams were noble, but it's too late now, that boat has already sailed."
(Reporting by Alexey Malgavko; Writing by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Ed Osmond)
A man who is homeless, smokes a cigarette as he attends a charity event organised by Caritas, a Catholic organisation, held to distribute food and present gifts to homeless and lower-income citizens during the Christmas period in Omsk, Russia, December 26, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko A heated pipe runs through a forrest in Omsk, Russia, December 13, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey MalgavkoA dog walks along the snow, next to a power plant in Omsk, Russia, January 16, 2020. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko An employee who works at a recycling centre, looks out the window in Omsk, Russia, February 14, 2020. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko Lyusya Stepanova, 44, who is homeless, sits in a rehabilitation facility in the village of Rozovka, Russia, February 17, 2020. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko A homeless man rests on a warm pipe in Omsk, Russia, December 7, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko Sasha, 49, nicknamed "Poltorashka" (1,5-litre beverage bottle), and Lyusya Stepanova, 44, both of whom are homeless, sit on a warm pipe as they share a meal in Omsk, Russia, December 3, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko Lyuda, who is homeless, eats a hot meal at a soup kitchen which is run weekly by volunteers, in front of a recycling centre in Omsk, Russia, January 25, 2020. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko Yevgeny Korobov, 43, nicknamed "Korobok" (box), and Denis, nicknamed Den "Mladshiy" (junior), both of whom are homeless, sit inside Korobov's makeshift shelter inside an underground pipe chamber in Omsk, Russia, January 23, 2020. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko Sasha, 49, nicknamed "Poltorashka" (1,5-litre beverage bottle), who is homeless, eats breakfast on a warm pipe in Omsk, Russia, January 29, 2020. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko Galiya, 29, who is homeless, looks out from Alexey's makeshift shelter in Omsk, Russia, February 14, 2020. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko Yevgeny Korobov, 43, nicknamed "Korobok" (box), who is homeless, sits in a makeshift shelter inside an underground pipe chamber in Omsk, Russia, January 23, 2020. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko Denis, nicknamed Den "Mladshiy" (junior), who is homeless, pushes a pram that he uses to store and transport disposed glass bottles and other recyclable items he can exchange for payment at a recycling centre, in Omsk, Russia, January 25, 2020. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko Oleg, 57, nicknamed "Khudozhnik" (artist), who is homeless, sits on a warm pipe where he now lives, 300 metres away from an apartment block where he used to live, in Omsk, Russia, January 29, 2020. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko Lyusya Stepanova, 44, who is homeless, uses a water pump to fill up a bottle on a street in Omsk, Russia, December 4, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko An employee weighs a bag filled with bottles and aluminium cans collected by Sasha, 49, nicknamed "Poltorashka" (1,5-litre beverage bottle), and Lyusya Stepanova, 44, both of whom are homeless, at a recycling centre in Omsk, Russia December 4, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko Alexei Vergunov, 46, nicknamed "Lyokha Boroda" (Lyokha the beard), who is?homeless, stands near his makeshift shelter with his dog Bella, in Omsk, Russia, February 14, 2020. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko Sasha, 49, nicknamed "Poltorashka" (1,5-litre beverage bottle), and Lyusya Stepanova, 44, both of whom are homeless, search for materials that could be recycled in Omsk, Russia, December 4, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko Oleg, 57, nicknamed "Khudozhnik" (artist), rests with other people, all whom are homeless, on top of warm pipes in Omsk, Russia, February 14, 2020. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko A man plays the guitar during a charity event organised by Caritas, a Catholic organisation, held to distribute food and present gifts to homeless and lower-income citizens during the Christmas period in Omsk, Russia, December 26, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko Alexei Vergunov, 46, nicknamed "Lyokha Boroda" (Lyokha the beard), who is homeless, searches for rubbish that could be be recycled in exchange for payment at a recycling centre, in Omsk, Russia, December 26, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko Alexei Vergunov, 46, nicknamed "Lyokha Boroda" (Lyokha the beard), who is homeless, waits to receive a payment in exchange for recyclable items that he brought to a recycling centre in Omsk, Russia, January 16, 2020. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko Yevgeny Korobov, 43, nicknamed "Korobok" (box), who is homeless, receives payment in exchange for recyclable items that he brought to a recycling centre in Omsk, Russia, February 15, 2020. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko Alexei Vergunov, 46, nicknamed "Lyokha Boroda" (Lyokha the beard), who is homeless, brings bottles and aluminium cans which he collected to exchange for payment, to a recycling centre in Omsk, Russia, February 16, 2020. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko
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