Postman Who Went Missing 20 Years Ago Sent Himself to Siberia

Faline · #1 ● 12-12-2012, 04:04 PM

A British postman who went missing 20 years ago has turned up at a new address – in a remote Siberian village 50km from the nearest road.

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Michael Ware, originally from Exmoor, left the UK and became a peasant farmer in the tiny community of Dubinka after a bitter divorce left him feeling suicidal.

But the 55-year-old is now happily re- married after falling in love with a local girl, Tatiana, who was 18 at the time.

He also adopted her son, Nikolai, from another relationship and they have two children of their own, Alexander, 18, and 16-year-old Veronika.

Exile Michael said: “I have no regrets coming to Siberia. It’s beautiful – a long winter with lots of sunshine and a nice mild summer. Plenty of fresh air and many beautiful places.”

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The former Royal Mail man has swapped his early-morning rounds in Somerset for braving minus 40-degree temperatures to look after the animals. These include 40 sheep, 14 cows, 10 chickens and two pigs.

“In winter, our day starts at 8am and ends at 11pm to midnight,” explained Michael. “Shovelling snow, cutting firewood, looking after the cows and sheep, it takes all day. The only free days I get are if I’m sick.”

He is now accepted as one of the locals, in the village which has just 15 residents. One babushka, a Russian grandmother, said of Mikhail, as he is known: “You can’t tell him from the rest of us anymore.”

Looking for a new start, Michael joined a party of 10 UK farmers who went to explore agricultural opportunities in post-Communist Russia in 1992.

Nine of the group quickly returned home after traipsing around Siberia – but Michael stayed.

And he has said he will remain in his freezing cold paradise forever – though he does miss family back in the UK.

He has three children with his ex-wife, who he has never seen before.

“I have no information about the family I left in England,” he told The Siberian Times . “I tried to find out about them on the internet but failed. I don’t even know what they look like now.

“I haven’t got Russian citizenship yet – first I must pass an exam in Russian, but I can’t learn the grammar. Every five years I extend my residency permit.

“Nobody can change their own blood. I’ll always be an Englishman. But now Siberia is my home.”