Viktor Tarasenkov lives in the Kaluga region and enjoys great authority among fellow agrarians. And this winter - harsh and snowy for Russia as a whole and for Kaluga in particular - has allowed Victor to strengthen his leadership position and earn even more respect. And all because Tarasenkov could not get past an obvious and very serious problem.

The farmer drew attention to the fact that wild ducks that remained to winter in his region are clearly devoid of the amount of nutrition that birds need during active frosts. To save the mallards from hunger, Victor laid oats and wheat along the banks of the Oka River.

The landowner was not too lazy to pour out several bags of grain, so that about 350 waterfowl (which huddled near the sewage treatment plant of Kaluga and on ice near the ice-hole on the Terepec river) could have plenty of lunch.

“Severe frosts poured water into the ice, birds cannot independently earn their own food,” the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation noted. “So, top dressing from local caring residents came in handy!”