He currently lives in the Rudnyansky District of the Volgograd Region, where he works as a baker.
Philipp studied in Kyrgyzstan until the 9th grade.
“I was born and spent my early years in the village of Kara-Dyikan, located in the Uzgen District of the Osh Region. I was surrounded by Uzbeks, and because of that, I learned their language. When I was 8 years old, I was left without parents, and I was adopted by a Kyrgyz family. That’s how I started speaking Kyrgyz. I was the only child in my biological family and the youngest, the eleventh, in my adoptive family. We lived in Alai. My Kyrgyz mother’s name is Ürümkan, and I keep in touch with her. She helped me get back on my feet, and I am very grateful to her,” he shared.
Philipp noted that his knowledge of the Kyrgyz language often surprises locals in Russia:
“Once, while waiting for a friend at the metro station, a Kyrgyz guy approached me and asked, ‘Hello, do you have a lighter?’. I replied, ‘Менде ширенке бар’ (I have a lighter). He looked at me in surprise, lit his cigarette, and thanked me before stepping back a bit. Then he returned and asked, ‘Ака, сиз биздин тилде сүйлөп жатасызбы’ (Brother, are you speaking our language?). I jokingly replied, ‘Sorry, I don’t understand you.’
Gallery: Philipp Savin
In addition to his main job, Savin is engaged in animal husbandry. He plans to sell everything and return to Kyrgyzstan to build a house and live near his family.
“I don’t remember how and when my mother died, and my father ended up in prison. I was too young to remember that. In the Kyrgyz family, my name and surname remained the same.
I converted to Islam, and at the mosque, I was given the name ‘Umar’. In the family where I grew up, they were engaged in livestock farming. I did the same things as other children, and I was treated as one of their own,” Philipp shared.
