United Methodists are mounting a drive to get food to the remote Yupik people of Siberia, who face severe shortages amid Russia's worsening economic crisis. The Yupiks are also known as Eskimos and are among 12 million people living in Russia's remote northern provinces.

The Reverend James A. Campbell, pastor of the Willow United Methodist Church in Willow, Alaska, said the food will go to some 2,500 Yupiks in Siberia's isolated Chukotka region. Chukotka is located on the northeastern extremity of Russia's Arctic Far North, about 36 miles across the Bering Strait from St. Lawrence Island, Alaska.

In a separate development, the United States, Canada, and the European Union (EU) plan massive food shipments to Russia this winter under agreements sought by the Russian government. Russia wants the aid mainly for its frigid northern regions that include Chukotka.

Russia's already sick economy fell into crisis three months ago: the ruble was devalued in August and the banking system is verging on bankruptcy. This comes on top of drought, falling food imports, and the poorest grain harvest in 50 years, projected at only 52 million tons, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The United Methodist relief effort in Chukotka will be administered through the Chukotka Native Christian Ministry (CNCM), an indigenous group supported by the United Methodist Church's Alaska Missionary Conference and four other denominations, Campbell said. The United Methodist Church is the ministry's main contributor of humanitarian aid.

The United Methodist Committee On Relief (UMCOR) will support the effort with $75,000 — $15,000 a month for up to five months, said the Reverend Paul Dirdak, UMCOR's chief executive.

In the years since the 1991 breakup of the former Soviet Union, food, fuel, and other staples have been in increasingly short supply in Chukotka and elsewhere in Russia, Campbell said. In Chukotka, Yupiks and others have already endured limited heat and electricity, as well as severe hunger, lack of warm clothing, and joblessness. CNCM, with help from UMCOR, has helped supply some of the needs in past years.

But this time, the problems are compounded by the devalued ruble and unemployment, Campbell said. In the wake of August's devaluation, food prices soared, the ruble buys less, and for many, there are no jobs.

CNCM planners hope to send the food shipments overland to Chukotka during two months, starting in December if weather permits, Campbell said. Rivers will have to be frozen hard enough to support the weight of the tracked vehicles that would haul the food to Chukotka. What CNCM would do beyond those first two months will depend on what the Russians might still need after the various governmental relief efforts have begun to take effect.

The U.S. and Russia have signed a $625 million agreement to send at least 3.1 million tons of food, including wheat, corn, pork, and beef, to be distributed to the neediest areas. An additional 100,000 tons will be donated to private voluntary organizations in Russia under the USDA's Food for Progress Program.

The Canadian government has announced plans to prepare a multimillion dollar aid package earmarked especially for Russia's northern provinces. And the EU has reached a tentative deal with Russia under which Russia would buy food worth $480 million and receive EU humanitarian aid worth $12 million to $14 million.

In the past, the Russian government has supplied the needs of its Far North with shiploads of provisions. But the economic crisis has short-circuited the usual arrangements.

A key problem lies with the nuclear-powered icebreakers that are the lifeline to supplying the Far North regions. Normally, the ships clear the ice-thick sea lanes to the area and unload provisions on arrival. That includes the diesel fuel needed to keep power stations running. But the vessels are laid over because the shipping companies lack money for fuel. And while the ships lay idle, the rivers freeze up. If diesel fuel isn't delivered on time, the people of the north could be without heat, lights, or electricity, and become even more desperate for food, medicine, and other items.

The food will go to seven locales within Chukotka: a Yupik community in Provideniya, a former Soviet administrative and military center with a population of at least 4,000; and six Yupik villages outside Provideniya — Novoye Chaplino, Sereniki, Nunlegran, Yanrakynnot, Urelik, and Enmelen. The village populations range, variously, from 150 to 600 people, Campbell said.

The entire Siberian Yupik population is about 4,000: 2,500 in Chukotka and another 1,500 in the United States. "They are a complete subculture, Eskimo culture, with their own language and their characteristic Eskimo garb,"Campbell said.

The Soviet Union first settled the Arctic regions with prisoners from the purges of dictator Joseph Stalin. Cities later formed, often around huge mines for coal, minerals, and precious metals. During the Khrushchev era, the Soviets offered special stipends as inducements to settle the remote towns.

November 30, 1998