Fedyukovo - my home in Russia
My family lives to the south of Moscow, between Podolsk and Vidnoye in the village of Fedyukovo. I have lived in this village about ten years (between 1984 and 2003).
Below is the description of Fedukovo written in 2001, before my immigration to Canada.
Fediukovo is located 25 km. from Moscow's Pavelets Terminus and about 8 km from Moscow's official border (the Ring Motorway). Our railway station on the Pavelets line is Platforma Kalinina. It takes 15 minutes to walk to my house from there (or 9 when I'm running to the train!). One can get to Fedyukovo also by bus 59 (Rastoguyevo - Podolsk), but it goes rarely.
Geographical position:
- latitude 55 degrees 30 min. North
- longtitude 37 degrees 40 min. East.
My family lives in a two-story brick house at the end of the street near a big ravine. Here's the view from our house over the ravine (westward, on the neighbouring village Potapovo).
Life in Feduikovo
The village has
- secondary school, kindergarten, "house of culture",
- two shops, petrol station, post-office,
- outpatient's clinic, chemist's shop, bathhouse, house of amenities (TV repair shop, hairdresser; this building also houses the village administration).
In the past the House of Culture was also a cinema and a disco place, now it accommodates only a library and a children's art school. The library has mostly classical fiction, all other literature is quite outdated.
The population of the village is about 2500. The majority lives in blocks of flats (2 - 5 stories high), the rest are in individual houses (huts or "castles", depending on the incomes). One-room flat costs usd 8 - 10 thousand.
Only recently the residents got connected to telephone lines, for over usd 1000. Power and water supply outages are not infrequent. Water is of poor quality (which is typical in Russia). Heating is stable, so we are much luckier than e.g. Primoriye residents.
The main employer in the village is state farm "Put' Ilicha" (e.i. Lenin's Way), which deals in dairy farming. After privatisation the state farm was converted to ZAO (closed joint stock company), on paper the business goes so-so. The salaries of common employees are beggarly (less than usd 50) and they do not see the dividends on their stocks in ZAO.
People live from their vegetable gardens and animal husbandry. The men tinker in their garages.
The more active work and study in Moscow. For shopping and amusement people also go to Moscow.
There is a substantial number of Moldavians in Fediukovo. These people have few rights. They work in ZAO and at construction sites. Moldavians rent rooms in the village and thwack together in the farm houses. Since life in Moldavia is 2-3 times cheaper and there's no employment there, they take almost any job to earn some money.
In general, Fedyukovo is not much different from any other village in Russia, though since it's close to Moscow, people are a little better off and there are more opportunities.
Surroundings
Around Fedyukovo there are pretty pine woods, fields and hills (attracting many skiers).Further from us:
- Gorki Leninskie (10 km SE). Lenin's mansion where he lived his last years and died on Jan. 21, 1924.
- Sukhanovo (5 km N). An Architects' Union recreation house, beautiful woods and ponds. Also the site of a prison where political prisoners were executed en masse during Stalin's rule.
- Podolsk (20 km. SW). An ugly industrial city, the largest in Moscow region after Moscow itself. Most known to Russians for the sewing machines that are produced there.
- Domodemovo Airport (20 km. SE). One of Moscow's four airports. Primarily south-bound traffic. Now, after modernisation, it has become Moscow's best. Convenient train service with Moscow (by blue-colored express trains).
Written in 2001