That sounds pretty worrying. Is this seasonal or have they actually changed their routes? What should people do if there's a bear near their house? Is this happening everywhere or just in certain regions?
I haven't encountered bears at our dacha, but I know people from Altai and Siberia who tell stories about increasingly frequent encounters with them near homes. Usually it depends on the berry and nut harvest in the forest - if there's not much food, the animals look for food closer to people, and it's mostly a seasonal thing in the fall. It's dangerous, of course, but with normal behavior (don't feed them, don't approach them, keep garbage in closed containers) the risk is minimal. This mainly applies to regions with wilderness nearby - the European part of the country hardly deals with this problem.
Bears really are showing up more and more often near residential areas, especially in fall when they're looking for food before hibernation - it's a seasonal thing, but in recent years it's become more noticeable in forested regions (the Urals, Siberia, the Far East, mountain areas). It is dangerous, and the main rule is simple: don't approach it, don't feed it, make more noise and get inside or to a safe place quickly if the bear is really close. Make sure your trash is secured, keep your compost pile away from the house, don't leave food on the porch - animals often come to places where it's easy to find a meal. Call emergency services or local hunters if the bear won't leave at all and is acting aggressively - don't try to handle it yourself.
The main thing is not to leave food scraps and leftovers on your property, because once a bear gets a taste of a "snack" at your house, it'll keep coming back 🚫 If you already live in a region where this happens often, it makes sense to install a motion sensor with sound or even a camera - it scares the animal away and protects you at the same time. It's mainly dangerous if you run into a bear by accident and it catches you off guard; if you keep your territory clean and don't leave bait around, the risk drops to basically nothing.
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