Siberian Town 'Under Siege' as Bears Have Killed at Least 6 People — Including 66-Year-Old Woman: 'One of Them Was Huge'
Officials in Siberia say brown bears killed at least six people in Krasnoyarsk in one month.
Sept. 24 2026, Published 5:45 p.m. ET
Prosecutors in Siberia said that brown bears have killed at least six people in Russia's Krasnoyarsk region in the past month, RadarOnline.com can reveal. The same day, an official in neighboring Khakassia said the forest town of Abaza had spent the night surrounded.
The deaths are concentrated in Krasnoyarsk, and the "siege" warning came from Abaza, a town of about 10,000 people in neighboring Khakassia.
A Night of Bears Around Abaza
Khakassia's deputy head, Dmitry Buchenik, said Abaza was 'effectively under siege.'
Dmitry Buchenik, Khakassia's deputy head, said bears approached Abaza from every side.
"It was an alarming night in Abaza. The taiga town is effectively under siege by bears," he said, according to CBS News/AFP.
He added, "Some of the animals were chased off, but three were killed (one of them was huge)."
Local Officials Failed to Keep Residents Safe?
Prosecutors have opened a negligence case against local officials.
Prosecutors said they have opened a negligence investigation, accusing local officials of failing to keep a growing bear population out of places where people live and work.
The Investigative Committee said authorities in Krasnoyarsk and Khakassia "failed to take measures to regulate the predator population or prevent them from appearing in areas inhabited by people."
The regional Investigative Committee said Thursday, September 24, that investigators had searched the Krasnoyarsk Ministry of Natural Resources and the Forest Complex and seized records tied to the case.
Earlier this month, the bodies of two older residents were found mauled in a forest near the remote settlement of Podtyosovo.
66-Year-Old Woman Killed at Home
Investigators say a 66-year-old woman was killed.
One of the Krasnoyarsk victims was a 66-year-old woman in the village of Verkhny Kebezh, in the Ermakovsky district, about 2,100 miles east of Moscow.
Investigators said she was attacked overnight on September 16 in the yard of her home and died at the scene.
At least 14 people have been killed by bears across Russia this year, including two people who were mauled while picking berries in neighboring Irkutsk earlier this month.
Russia's Bear Population Has Doubled
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Russia's bear population has rise to nearly 308,000.
Russia's Natural Resources and Environment Ministry says the country's brown bear population has risen from about 130,000 in 1990 to nearly 308,000 this year.
The ministry says the typical annual figure is 20 to 30 incidents, fatal and nonfatal combined, and that the modern record remains 166 attacks in 2014.
