Indigenous peoples of Yamal have been waiting for housing under the state program for years. Now they are preparing collective appeals.

Eiko Serotetto, a reindeer herder from the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, has launched a campaign for housing for indigenous peoples. Around 5000 families are on the waiting list for apartments under the regional program to improve housing conditions for indigenous peoples. 

Serotetto encourages his fellow villagers to contact him first: write a brief introduction about themselves when they join the housing waiting list. The reindeer herder will prepare a personalized appeal to the Investigative Committee for each applicant. Applicants will only need to fill out their personal information and send the prepared appeal to the Investigative Committee. 

"Almost all of Yamal is in need," Serotetto told NeMoskva. "We're sending out appeals every day, and more people are joining." 

According to the news, the last time a “reindeer herder’s house” – built specifically for indigenous peoples in need of housing – was built in the region handed over In December 2023, 34 tundra families in the village of Seyakha received keys to apartments. Plans were underway to build four more houses for 120 families. Since then, Serotetto notes, approximately 30 million rubles have been allocated annually for the indigenous resettlement program—enough for two or three apartments at most. 

A year ago, a rally was held in Salekhard, where representatives of indigenous peoples voiced their demands. At the time, Serotetto added to NeMoskva, no government officials came out to the protesters, and nothing changed. 

Recently, the issue of housing allocation for indigenous peoples got interested Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin. A member of the indigenous people from Labytnangi has been waiting for new housing for 20 years, but the issue has remained unresolved. Bastrykin ordered an investigation. 

"There's no need to be shy and silent. We're not begging. We're not breaking the law. We do everything the other way around—strictly according to the law. We demand the implementation of our own laws, guarantees, and programs that have been written on paper for years and forgotten in drawers. It's not us, living in cramped conditions and waiting, who should be ashamed. The shame should be on the system that, in the richest region of the country, can't solve the housing issue for its native residents," urges fellow countrymen of Serotetto.