Russian deserter believed dead found living in remote forest, 11 years after disappearance

Unnamed 30-year-old man had survived by living off wild berries and building himself a shack out of discarded materials

Man had not told his family he was alive (Getty)

A Russian deserter has been found hiding in the woods and surviving on berries, 11 years after he disappeared from his regiment.

The 30-year-old man, who has not been named, disappeared from his Kamchatka post in 2004.

He was formally declared dead after his family, from the southern city of Taganrog, misidentified a body as that of their missing relative, just a few months after he disappeared.

Meanwhile, the deserter continued to live in the remote eastern forest – never contacting his family, surviving through work at a local pig farm and living off wild fruit found among the trees.

He is even believed to have built himself a ramshackle home out of old construction materials on the outskirts of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, according to local Tass agency.

“He was collecting berries and mushrooms and scrap metal, worked at a swine farm and went fishing to earn his living," the spokesperson told the news agency.

Officers only caught up with the fugitive after locals told authorities about a “suspicious person” living nearby.

Russian deserters can face up to seven years in jail but a police spokesperson said the unidentified man may face no punishment owing to the length of time since the crime was committed.