A very recent photo of a bear near Kandalaksha

On August 1 2014 the Murmansk Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology held a meeting with the heads of municipalities of Severomorsk, Apatity, Kirovsk, Olenegorsk, and Pechenga of the Murmansk region on the increasing frequency of appearance of bears near “populated points” in the summer of 2014. Among others, the meeting made a recommendation that people get instructed on how to behave in case of bear attack, and arm themselves with flares.

PS.

Bear at a cemetery near Apatity, filmed by a local priest about to perform a service there: