Lykova became a national phenomenon in the early 1980s when Vasily Peskov published articles about her family and their extreme isolation from the rest of society.
[3] Lykova lives at 3,444 ft (1,050 m) on a remote mountainside in the Abakan Range, 150 mi (240 km) away from the nearest town.
The scientists reported that Lykova spoke a language "distorted by a lifetime of isolation" that sounded akin to a "slow, blurred cooing".
Later, after observing her skill in hunting, cooking, sewing, reading and construction, this original misconception was revised.
[4] In 2011 Agafia formally re-joined the Belokrinitskaya branch of the Old Believers during a visit by Metropolitan Korniliy (Titov) coinciding with her 69th birthday.
[9] Agafia was treated at a hospital in Tashtagol, and planned to return to the wilderness once emergency services were able to airlift her home.
[11] In 2021 it was reported that the oligarch Oleg Deripaska had paid for the construction of a new cabin in the wilderness for her to live in due to the deterioration of her previous dwelling.