How does the closed shift settlement Sabetta live in the Far North

Photographer Andrey Starostin visited the Sabetta shift settlement in the Yamalo-Nenets District and told how life is there: what dormitories in the permafrost zone look like, how workers are punished for alcohol and other violations of the rules and how their life is arranged.

Tickets for the flight Moscow - Sabetta can not be bought: they are taken there only according to the lists and passport. There are simply no other options, respectively, random people - too. Red Wings drove there, Yamal drove back. I checked in for the flight last, which resulted in a good bonus, but more on that later. It was unusual to see only adults in the boarding queue - sober, calm, without jokes and jokes. Everyone knows where and, most importantly, why they are flying. No crazy moms, no wild animals. A striking contrast with the "resort" flights.

The only joke was when a soapy man jumped up to us, who had to go to Simferopol, and almost flew with us to Yamal. We slightly held the intrigue, but still admitted that Sabetta is not a resort, although it is also on the peninsula. He still managed to catch his plane.

The captain of the aircraft announced that the airport in Sabetta was overloaded and it was necessary to wait a little. Okay, we're waiting. And we wait and wait ... Finally we were towed, the pilot fired up the engines and drove himself, but at every intersection he stood and let everyone through!

The food was delicious in flight — I didn't even expect this from the actual shift transport. And the bonus is that even though I was sitting at the end of the plane, I was alone in three seats. I thought I was going to take a nap, but it was so beautiful outside the porthole that I didn't get away from it. And it was also convenient to eat.

We arrived in Sabetta. Here everything was, on the one hand, simpler than in Domodedovo, and on the other — more complicated. Already without the frills of the bus type from the plane to the building, but you need to wait a long time for luggage and it is inspected for alcohol. They really look at the conscience. If something raises questions, you need to open the trunk and show it, no matter how tightly packed things are. Refused - prepare 50 thousand fine. 

No one refuses. Alcohol in Sabetta, in the villages and throughout the South Tambeysky license area (UTLU), including the LNG plant, is under a complete, absolute and total ban. Even in the church, they do not take communion with the cahors. The temple, by the way, is blissful. I decided to go there from arrival — I got to the feast. We sat, talked, told different stories. I met people, again.

In general, there are many prohibitions, but they are understandable. If you don't understand something yourself, they will explain it at the briefing. They explain it in simple language. For example, you cannot interact with the local fauna. If a polar bear, then it is clear that he will tear you apart purely out of curiosity, even if he is not hungry. If the arctic fox - then it is unknown what is on his mind, plus rabies is quite possible. I haven't seen polar bears here, I won't lie, but arctic foxes run through garbage dumps like cats in cities, and the bravest beg people for yummy.

Smoking is allowed only in designated areas — on the street in iron ventilated sheds. The order on the UTLU is monitored by security, the law and order is monitored by the ATS.

For violation of the rules — either a sensitive (five-six-figure) fine, or deportation. Although there are violations with six signs, but without deportation. For example, drinking. Since they drown here brutally, then put the braga - like two fingers. They'll pinch you drunk — and you'll owe money yourself, and your office, and twice as much, but they won't send you home. Eat, they say, on, bring us the loot. But deportation means that the deported person will never be able to come here again, either next time or from another office. The only way to come here again is to change your passport. There are people who, for one reason or another, do not drink, who are in Sabetta like fish in water. There are people who specially come here for a watch as for rehabilitation with occupational therapy - because they are unable to stop drinking on their own.

More about fines. To turn up the heating in the room so that it doesn't fry so much — to get to 30 thousand. To be at the factory without overalls is minus five percent of the salary for each time. Lack of personal protective equipment (helmets and glasses) — in different ways, depending on the zone where you were caught without them. The lack of insurance when working at height is again deportation.

About the weather. You come from Moscow to the Arctic — you think, kick-ass! The next day, the temperature drops to -3, you think: now it's a kick-ass. The next day, the wind rises from the Arctic Ocean (and I must say that Yamal is almost flat and nothing prevents the wind from blowing), you think: now it's definitely a kick-ass! The next day the sun comes out, the wind does not stop, the temperature drops still, you think: well, it's fine. The next day it's just as cold, but the wind stops blowing, fog comes from the ocean, and you think: in the heat!

The wind, if there is one, turns the cigarette out of your mouth (because of this, the habit of holding a cigarette with your teeth quickly appears), blows through the zippers on your clothes, and if something of your clothes is not fastened— there is a possibility of losing it. The habit of buttoning up appears instantly. The wind can really blow the helmet off the head or the yellow vest off the body. At first it is surprising that all the stairs, even two or three steps, are equipped with railings— but when the wind rises, you realize that this is a necessary thing.

Sabetta has, as I said, a police station and a medical center. The fire station is located at the factory, where the firefighters go. With the strictness of the Sabetta rules, a fire in the village is unlikely, but at a liquefied natural gas production plant it is quite natural to hedge. I've only seen the police once in two weeks, but the ambulances go. The main function of medicine here is to treat cuts and abrasions and keep a rabies vaccine ready. If someone is seriously ill, give a certificate on the basis of which a person goes home ahead of time so that he does not spread the infection and does not become a parasite. No simulation is required: at the medical center, when contacting, they directly ask: "Do you want to go home?" - and, if you want, good riddance.

In general, it is quite possible to get bored there if you treat these watches and business trips as exile and hard labor, and not as an adventure. People who are weaker are going crazy — it's easier for doctors to send home a person who is bored than to fix and isolate someone who has already "gone".

Everything has been done at YUTLU so that people who come there work and do not fool around with everyday issues: what and how to eat, how to sleep, where to wash and how to maintain hygiene. Literally all questions are closed. I wrote about heating. In the dormitories on each floor there are rooms with washing machines and dryers. On the ground floor there is a separate warm clothes dryer. Room cleaning - every other day. Bed linen and towels are changed once a week.

Each person is given a pass — a plastic card, to which money for food is credited daily. They feed me three times a day for slaughter, but even I with my appetite, not denying myself anything, could not devour the entire amount.

About leisure. There is a sports complex with iron and a playground. You need to sign up for iron in two days. I didn't swing — I just drank and ate. On the playground you can play any playground games: volleyball, mini-football, badminton and tennis, there are ping-pong tables. Communication with civilization throughout the area is only via satellite. And it is poor for the user: the voice on the phone in Sabetta holds up well, at the factory - with great interruptions (the mobile phone is not particularly needed there: all have walkie-talkies), Internet - only Edge. I saw 3G once, but it quickly fell off. Local network — only in offices, for mail, Internet access is very limited. There is Wi-Fi in some places, but it is strictly password-protected. People come with gadgets, watch movies and TV shows and exchange with each other on flash drives fresh.

There are two attractions in Sabetta: the torch of the LNG plant, which can be seen from everywhere, and the temple. I was also impressed by the old buildings of dormitories where shift workers and border guards used to live - houses made of planks. There is no one in them now, but they are standing, and this is very expressive. Such a house is quite suitable for a room for a museum of these places. Although the village is young and small, but the history here is already rich.

It's fun to see how harsh and gloomy guys in the afternoon in the evenings burrow into crevices and secluded corners and coo on the phone with family and friends. It's also a powerful contrast: life is everywhere. And in a rustic way (in a good sense of the word), couples walking along the streets create a good feeling.

In general, there are no random people there. People are different: from all over Russia plus the French, Indians, Turks, Serbs. The Germans make concrete - with German care. And everyone is really equal.

More about the torch. A torch is a meditative thing. It is really visible from everywhere, and if it is hidden behind buildings, then the whole sky is illuminated with such a flickering red-yellow light. It looks fantastically beautiful: a column of fire from 20 to 50 meters in height on a non-fig tower, plus sometimes, when something difficult is burning there, black smoke also flies.

Several times I had to be near him. Well, as near. The first 220 meters from it is a sterile zone where entry is prohibited, and you don't want to go there yourself. And you don't want to, because already half a kilometer away from him, you can barely hear your neighbor because of the hum and you're really fried. You can warm your hands from a torch, as from a bonfire. You get out of the car and think that spring has come, it's warm: there is mud around, there is no snow at all, well, you think that you can walk without a hat in one helmet. And there was a horseradish there: as soon as you go into the shade of some construction, you realize that you had to put on a hat, because in the shade it is the most winter, that is, the snow crunches, and the ears curl into a tube from the cold. But it's already a bummer: you can't take off your helmet. The village of Sabetta is located a few kilometers from the factory, our building was on the last line — so, there is always a feeling that an airliner is flying over the house, only the source of the noise does not fly anywhere.

About local traffic rules. I took my driver's license with me and thought that it would be possible to ride some kind of six-wheeled track and ride it on the tundra, well, or ride a pickup truck on icy roads. Fuck everything: fines for traffic violations are about 10 times higher than the "mainland" ones, the speed limit is 50 km/h, and all cars are equipped with GLONASS, there is no escape. Even if you think that no one will notice your violation, the track is constantly being written and checked randomly every few days. The order on the roads is monitored by several services at once, including the traffic police, and discipline is maintained by mutual responsibility. In the tundra, on the "bushes", everything is the opposite. There is one rule there: loaded transport has an advantage. Point. There are no more rules, go as you want. It looks wild at first, but then you get used to it.

In short, with an optimistic attitude, time on a business trip to Sabetta is perceived as an extreme, but damn interesting vacation.