Siberian town under siege as bear attack deaths rise in 2026

Bear attacks have led to at least 14 deaths this year in Siberia, with one village practically under siege. According to The Moscow Times, at least six people have been killed by bears in the Krasnoyarsk region. This includes at least three attacks on September 16. A 66-year-old woman was mauled to death in a remote village, and a 55-year-old and a 65-year-old were fatally attacked while foraging for berries in Taiga, in the Irkutsk region of Siberia.

The Russian Ministry of Natural Resources has recorded a spike in bear attacks in 2026. While 20 to 30 people fall victim to bears in Siberia every year, so far, 14 people have lost their lives to the vicious attacks this year, the outlet reported after gathering its own data.

Talking about an alarming incident, Dmitry Buchenik, deputy head of the Khakassia region, said on September 23 that the town of Abaza was surrounded by bears. CBS News reported him saying that it was an "alarming night" and "the taiga town is effectively under siege by bears." The bears were chased off, and three of them died, including one that was extremely large.

Prosecutors have accused local officials of negligence and failure to control the bear population. The Investigative Committee of Russia said that they "failed to take measures to regulate the predator population or prevent them from appearing in areas inhabited by people" in the Krasnoyarsk and Khakassia regions.

Meanwhile, the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry dismissed claims that bear attacks have risen in the region. TASS reported them as saying that bear-related deaths number between 20 and 30 every year. In 2014, this number shot to a record 166, The Moscow Times reported. Data from the ministry shows that there are 308,000 brown bears in Russia today, compared to 130,000 in 1990.