On Russia’s only inhabited Baikal island, residents now wait hours behind tourists to board the ferry home

Since mid-July, residents of Olkhon Island on Lake Baikal have complained that they can no longer board the ferries linking the island to the mainland ahead of the line. The tourist season has created backups that leave residents and tourists stuck for hours.Olkhon is the only inhabited island on Lake Baikal, and the only way on or off is the ferry crossing to the mainland village of Sakhyurta. Residents cross to the mainland to visit hospitals, stores, and government offices. Three ferries serve the route.Starting July 18, island residents began posting complaints in the comments on the Telegram channel of Irkutsk region Governor Igor Kobzev, saying ferry staff no longer let them board ahead of the line. Until mid-July, residents only needed to show ferry staff documents proving local registration to board ahead of tourists, according to the news outlet People of Baikal.Residents said ferry staff now cite an unspecified decree from the governor stating that there will be no separate line for tourists. Journalists at People of Baikal could not find any such document. The Irkutsk region’s Transport Ministry said that only shuttle vans and emergency vehicles may skip the line, but that officials are working to arrange priority passage for Olkhon residents.Tourists and residents of the island have spent as long as 24 hours waiting in line for the ferry this summer. Part of the reason is a rise in tourist traffic, but the more basic problem, residents say, was that only two of the island’s three ferries were running. A third boat returned to service on July 24, and the lines have since grown shorter. One resident recounted that her daughter-in-law, together with her husband and their seven-year-old son, waited in the ferry line all night while the family was returning to the island from the hospital.On the morning of July 28, the East Siberian River Shipping Company (which ferries people to and from the island) announced that ferry service had been suspended, claiming that residents on Olkhon had “blocked vehicles from driving to and from the ferry crossing.” Published footage shows more than 10 UAZ off-road vehicles stopped in front of the entrance to the crossing. One local, however, said that passengers aboard a ferry that was not departing were told the delay was due to fog. The crossing resumed service about an hour and a half later.The following day, police in the Irkutsk region announced the detention of “active participants in the situation that occurred on both sides of the crossing to Olkhon Island” — an incident that halted traffic. Police said 14 people were detained: one was charged with blocking transportation routes (Article 20.18 of Russia’s Code of Administrative Offenses), and the rest with “various violations of the law under the State Traffic Inspectorate,” Russia’s traffic police.At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.