Yakutsk is a city located on the map of Siberia, Russia, and is considered one of the coldest places on Earth. Temperatures often drop to extreme lows during winter, but a recent dip to minus 50 degrees Celsius this week is unusual. This extreme cold can pose challenges for residents and the city’s economic activities.
Vendors at a market in Yakutsk. (Photo: Reuters).
Located 5,000 km east of the capital Moscow on the frozen land of the Russian Far East, residents of Yakutsk, a mining city, often experience temperatures hovering around minus 40 degrees Celsius.
“You cannot fight against the cold. You can adjust and dress appropriately, or you will have to endure,” shared Anastasia Gruzdeva, a Yakutsk resident, about how to stay warm in this climate.
Yakutsk, one of the northernmost cities in Russia, is affected by a cold snap that has driven temperatures down to minus 51 degrees Celsius. (Photo: Reuters).
A thermometer showing an air temperature of approximately minus 48 degrees Celsius outside a hotel in downtown Yakutsk. (Photo: Reuters).
Gruzdeva can only go outside when wrapped in two scarves, wearing two pairs of gloves, and donning a hat.
“Only then do you not really feel cold walking around the city. Or maybe your brain tricks you into thinking everything is normal,” Gruzdeva said.
Scene of an outdoor market on a freezing day in Yakutsk. (Photo: Reuters)
Items for sale in the market completely frozen. (Photo: Reuters)
Another resident, Nurgusun Starostina, who sells frozen fish at the market without the need for refrigerators or freezers, stated that there are no special tricks to cope with the cold in this harsh land.
“Just dress warmly,” Starostina shared. “Wear many layers, like a cabbage.”
