The isolation is compounded by the fact that nobody has money. Most of the residents and military personnel work on mainland Vladivostok. Thus the currently inoperative boat and ferry routes to Pospelova and Podnozhye capes were a matter of livelihood for the islanders. Civilian and military stores have run out of food brought last year. Kindergartens have nothing to feed children, and the patients in the hospital are starving.
Businessmen use occasional boats to bring in only vodka of dubious quality.
The island s bakeries have flour to last just for a few days, said Nadezhda Khasanova, chairwoman of one of the island s village councils. Telegrams, including notices of the death of relatives, can t get through. The disposal of dead bodies has become a problem too, because there is no morgue on Russky. There is also no chance to help the seriously sick. Khasanova said they had to call for a helicopter Jan. 7 to take a pregnant woman to a Vladivostok maternity ward for delivery.