Jingle All the Way: Spending Christmas with Russia's Arctic Reindeer Herds

Dec 16, 2016 - 11:00 am

A herd of reindeers waits inside an enclosure as herders select and sort them in the settlement of Krasnoye, Nenets Autonomous Region, Russia. Sergei Karpukhin / Reuters

A herder stops for reindeers to rest while riding across the tundra area in the Nenets Autonomous Region, Russia. Sergei Karpukhin / Reuters

Herders select and sort reindeer inside an enclosure in the settlement of Krasnoye in the Nenets Autonomous Region, Russia. Sergei Karpukhin / Reuters

Reindeer antlers which have been cut off by herders lie inside an enclosure in the settlement of Krasnoye, Nenets Autonomous Region, Russia. Sergei Karpukhin / Reuters

A herd of reindeers waits inside an enclosure as herders select and sort them in the settlement of Krasnoye, Nenets Autonomous Region, Russia. Sergei Karpukhin / Reuters

A herder smokes while sorting reindeer in the settlement of Krasnoye, Nenets Autonomous District, Russia. Sergei Karpukhin / Reuters

A herd of reindeers waits inside an enclosure as herders select and sort them in the settlement of Krasnoye, Nenets Autonomous Region, Russia. Sergei Karpukhin / Reuters

Santa's reindeer helpers may be making some special appearances in the run-up to Christmas Eve, but in Russia's Arctic Nenets Autonomous Region, herding the gentle beasts is an ancient way of life. Photographer Sergei Karpukhin took a closer look at the region's reindeer herders and their livestock in Russia's snowy winter tundra.

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