Fishermen, meteorologists, seamen, school children : some of them are prepared to defend their hometown as their forefathers did back in 1942; others are living out of their suitcases, expecting to be granted permanent housing 'on the mainland'; yet another group are hoping that President Putin will remember about the Arctic and that Dikson's golden age is yet co come.
Michael Degtyarev, 80.
During World War II before joining partisans his father managed to get him into a train carrying children and old people from Belorussia which was already in the hands of the Nazis to Siberia. That’s how he got to live at the Karskoye sea. Today he is the last fisherman who fishes on his own. He could go back to Belorussia as his daughter did or to Canada where his son lives. But Uncle Michael painfully remarks that there is no more USSR on the continent and he still says Leningrad instead of St.Petersburgh. He says that he has everything he needs in Dikson: his fishing boat, old cross country vehicle and he is happy here. Will he stay in this reservation of the USSR or will he have to move to the continent and live in New Russia?
Lyocha, 36
In his youth he brutally beat up a man and got to jail. After his first term he met Katya and fell in love with her. But then got to jail again. They got married right away. He saw his daughter firstly when he came from prison and decided to start a new life. But it was not easy to find a good job in a big city where his old chaps did not want to leave him. So they went to Dikson to start a new page in their life and they absolutely reluctant to be sent from here.
Ruslan, 15
He believes he is a patriot of his town. He’s the one to hold Russian flag at parades and recites the poems about the defenders of Dikson. Today Dikson is the safest place in Russia: no traffic, no criminals. The possible biggest danger is polar bear which can approach the houses but it is a rare case. So children walk here day and night around the town. Ruslan and his friends climb in the damaged port and abandoned buildings. He makes up rap about love. He loves his classmate Christine but her parents do not let her spend time with him or other boys. After school she is planning to enter university on the continent. Therefore she has to work hard. Ruslan also wants to leave to join the army: airborne troops. But he is looking forward to getting back to Dikson if the town still exists.