Ravil Izhmukhametov, 9, and his friend Ramil Kuchukov play outside their village of Sibilyakovo, Omsk region, Russia, September 1, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Ravil Izhmukhametov, 9, and teacher Uminur Kuchukova, 61, attend the ceremony on the first day of the new school year next to a WWII monument in the village of Sibilyakovo, Omsk region, Russia, September 2, 2019. Kuchukova has taught at the school for 42 years. She could have retired years ago, but continues to teach at once bustling school for the sake of its last pupil. When she leaves next year, the school will close. She thinks Izhmukhametov will be old enough to travel to the neighbouring village for lessons. "I feel sorry for him. His parents don't want to leave (Sibilyakovo) yet and it's scary to send a little boy like him over the Irtysh, there are such big waves," she said. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

Ravil Izhmukhametov, 9, and his sister Rozalia Hannanova with her daughter Elvira are seen after the ceremony on the first day of the new school year in the village of Sibilyakovo, Omsk region, Russia, September 2, 2019. Ravil is the only pupil in the school. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

Plants have grown at an abandoned house in the village of Sibilyakovo, Omsk region, Russia, September 8, 2019. Like thousands of villages dotted across Russia, the remote Siberian village of Sibilyakovo emptied after the closure of its state-run collective farm following the 1991 collapse of the Soviet planned economy. In its heyday in the 1970s, Sibilyakovo's population was 550. It has shrunk to 39. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

Elmira washes her son Ravil Izhmukhametov, 9, the evening before the first day of the new school year in the village of Sibilyakovo, Omsk region, Russia, September 1, 2019. Ravil is the only pupil in Sibilyakovo's primary school. He said he has no interest in moving to the city, but that he realises he will have no choice one day. He was nonplussed when asked what it was like to go to school without any classmates. "I've got nothing to compare it to, but of course I'd like to have friends so I'm looking forward to going to the main school." REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

Spouses Rafik and Gulfira Koldasheva harvest potatoes in the village of Sibilyakovo, Omsk region, Russia, September 7, 2019. Like thousands of villages dotted across Russia, the remote Siberian village of Sibilyakovo emptied after the closure of its state-run collective farm following the 1991 collapse of the Soviet planned economy. Jobs dried up and people left in droves. The village is mainly inhabited by Tatars, a Turki? group that is one of scores of ethnic minorities in Russia. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

Dinar Izhmukhametov, 48, looks at his wife Elmira holding their granddaughter in the village of Sibilyakovo, Omsk region, Russia, September 1, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

Ravil Izhmukhametov, 9, sits outside his family house in the village of Sibilyakovo in Omsk region, Russia, September 1, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

Ravil Izhmukhametov, 9, attends a class with teacher Uminur Kuchukova, 61, on the first day of the new school year in the village of Sibilyakovo, Omsk region, Russia, September 2, 2019. Kuchukova has taught at the school for 42 years. She could have retired years ago, but continues to teach at once bustling school for the sake of its last pupil. When she leaves next year, the school will close. She thinks Izhmukhametov will be old enough to travel to the neighbouring village for lessons. "I feel sorry for him. His parents don't want to leave (Sibilyakovo) yet and it's scary to send a little boy like him over the Irtysh, there are such big waves," she said. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

A portrait hangs on a wall of an abandoned house in the village of Sibilyakovo, Omsk region, Russia September 7, 2019. Like thousands of villages dotted across Russia, the remote Siberian village of Sibilyakovo emptied after the closure of its state-run collective farm following the 1991 collapse of the Soviet planned economy. In its heyday in the 1970s, Sibilyakovo's population was 550. It has shrunk to 39. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

Local residents travel across Irtysh River outside the village of Sibilyakovo, Omsk region, Russia, September 1, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

A local resident fishes on Irtysh River outside the village of Sibilyakovo, Omsk region, Russia, September 7, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

Postwoman Dinara Koldasheva, former resident of Sibilyakovo, delivers a newspaper in the village of Sibilyakovo, Omsk region, Russia, September 7, 2019. Koldasheva left Sibilyakovo and relocated to the regional centre of Tara, about 50km away. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

Ildar, 64, Ravil Izhmukhametov's uncle, gets his pension payment of around 9000 Russian rubles delivered by the postwoman Dinara Koldasheva, former resident of Sibilyakovo, in the village of Sibilyakovo, Omsk region, Russia, September 7, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

Spouses Rafik and Gulfira Koldasheva take canned fruit out of their basement storage in the village of Sibilyakovo, Omsk region, Russia, September 7, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

Harvested tomatoes are laid out on the floor in the house of Sibilyakovo's primary school teacher Uminur Kuchukova, in the village of Sibilyakovo, Omsk region, Russia September 7, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

Ravil Izhmukhametov, 9, holds blackberries outside the village of Sibilyakovo, Omsk region, Russia, September 1, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

Ravil Izhmukhametov, 9, walks outside the village of Sibilyakovo, Omsk region, Russia, September 1, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Clothes hang to dry in the yard of Izhmukhametov's family house the village of Sibilyakovo, Omsk region, Russia, September 7, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

Ravil Izhmukhametov, 9, talks to his sister Rozalia Hannanova at their house the village of Sibilyakovo, Omsk region, Russia, September 7, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

Ravils Izhmukhametov's mother Elmira, a member of the local election commission, walks with a mobile voting box during local elections in the village of Sibilyakovo, Omsk region, Russia, September 8, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

Ravil Izhmukhametov, 9, and his friend Ramil Kuchukov watch TV in the village of Sibilyakovo, Omsk region, Russia, September 1, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

Ravil Izhmukhametov, 9, eats with his father Dinar, 48, at their house in the village of Sibilyakovo, Omsk region, Russia, September 1, 2019. Ravil's parents are farmers and have livestock but they don't want their son to stay in the village when he grows up. "Our eldest children live in the city and we're happy about that," said Dinar. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

Rozalia Hannanova, Ravil Izhmukhametov's sister, carries a bucket of water at Izhmukhametov family house in the village of Sibilyakovo, Omsk region, Russia, September 1, 2019. Hannanova lives in the regional centre of Tara, about 50km away. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

Ravil Izhmukhametov, 9, visits his great-grandmother Kharikamal Takhtimirova, 90, in the village of Sibilyakovo, Omsk region, Russia, September 1, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

Livestock belonging to the Izhmukhametov family are seen in the village of Sibilyakovo, Omsk region, Russia, September 1, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

A local resident fishes on Irtysh River outside the village of Sibilyakovo, Omsk region, Russia, September 1, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

An abandoned house converted to a garage belonging to local residents Rafik and Gulfira Koldasheva, is seen in the village of Sibilyakovo, Omsk region, Russia, September 7, 2019. Like thousands of villages dotted across Russia, the remote Siberian village of Sibilyakovo emptied after the closure of its state-run collective farm following the 1991 collapse of the Soviet planned economy. In its heyday in the 1970s, Sibilyakovo's population was 550. It has shrunk to 39. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

Ravil Izhmukhametov, 9, walks in the village of Sibilyakovo in Omsk region, Russia September 1, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

Ravil Izhmukhametov, 9, poses for a picture at the house of his friend Ramil in the village of Sibilyakovo, Omsk region, Russia, September 1, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

Ramil Kuchukov walks to cross the river to get to his school in the neighbouring village of Butakovo, in the village of Sibilyakovo, Omsk region, Russia, September 2, 2019. The school is a 30-minute boat journey across the choppy Irtysh River followed by a 20-minute ride on the school bus. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

Elmira washes her son Ravil Izhmukhametov, 9, the evening before the first day of the new school year in the village of Sibilyakovo, Omsk region, Russia, September 1, 2019. Ravil is the only pupil in Sibilyakovo's primary school. He said he has no interest in moving to the city, but that he realises he will have no choice one day. He was nonplussed when asked what it was like to go to school without any classmates. "I've got nothing to compare it to, but of course I'd like to have friends so I'm looking forward to going to the main school." REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

Ravil Izhmukhametov, 9, climbs on a rope in a sport class after the ceremony on the first day of the new school year in the village of Sibilyakovo, Omsk region, Russia, September 2, 2019. Ravil is the only pupil in the school. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

A paramedic measures the blood pressure of a local resident at a polling station set up at a school during local elections in the village of Sibilyakovo, Omsk region, Russia, September 8, 2019. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

Photos of former students are seen at a school museum in the village of Sibilyakovo, Omsk region, Russia, September 7, 2019. In its heyday in the 1970s, Sibilyakovo's primary school had four classes, each of around 18 children. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko SEARCH "SIBILYAKOVO MALGAVKO" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.