Agafia

In 1978, in the remote Russian Republic of Khakassia, Siberia, a group of geologists discovered a family of Old Believers, the Lykovs. They had fled to the wilderness to avoid religious persecution first from the Orthodox Church and then from the Soviets. Now RTD’s film crew goes deep into the taiga to meet the only remaining member of the family, Agafia. She is almost 70 years old and is in desperate need of a helper.

The filmmakers encourage her to write a letter to Old Believers everywhere in an attempt to find one. This letter, written in Old Slavonic language, is available on RTD’s site: https://rtd.rt.com/info/agafias-letter/ (Old Slavonic language) The film crew also interviews Erofey Sedov, a former drilling geologist. He was one of those who discovered the Lykovs and told the world about them. He got to know them well and is now ready to share information that will make us see the familiar story of this family of hermits in a different light. But is any of it true?