Vietnam sends homeless man back to Russia after months of support

By Xuan Ngoc   May 30, 2017 | 07:28 pm PT
Vietnam sends homeless man back to Russia after months of support
Oleg Kuznetsov , 45, has been flown back to Russia after six months at Khanh Hoa Social Center. Photo by VnExpress/Xuan Ngoc
The 45-year-old Russian had wandered Nha Trang streets for years before a social welfare center took him in late last year.

A homeless Russian man who lived on the streets in Khanh Hoa Province for years was flown back to Russia on Tuesday.

The province’s foreign affairs department said Oleg Kuznetsov, 45, "will receive support from Russian government agencies when he arrives in his home country."

According to official sources, he came to Vietnam with his family in 2012 after his mother opened a retail business in Khanh Hoa's popular resort town Nha Trang.

After the mother died of a heart attack in 2013, the man and his sister took over the business, which kept making losses and the sister left.

The man then worked different jobs in Nha Trang. Eventually, he began wandering tourist hotspots, begging for money.

Nha Trang authorities admitted him to a mental health hospital after he began to show signs of emotional distress.

Last December he was sent to the Khanh Hoa Social Center, which takes care of around 260 people including homeless children and old people.

He kept saying that he's healthy and all he wants is to return to Russia.

Officials in both Vietnam and Russia have failed to track down any of his family members.

 
 
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