Located in southwestern Siberia, the Omsk region is one of Russia’s largest cities east of the Ural Mountains and an important hub in the Trans-Siberian Railway. It is also one of the Russian republics with exceptionally high incidence of substance abuse. The ensuing problems derived from increased drug abuse and alcoholism has led to a rise in unorthodox treatment methods across the republic, including a rehabilitation centre that operates like a fight club for addicts.
In a small village on the outskirts of Omsk, where their consumption of absolute alcohol is much higher (125 litres per person per year in Omsk) than the national average, an unauthorized rehabilitation centre was founded in 2017 and flourished within the town.