I decided to tell you about an interesting species of cryptids (exactly cryptids, not mutants) from the Kola Peninsula that survived the nuclear war. They appear in the book «Metro 2033 North».

In the novel, bigfoots are described as huge humanoid creatures, more than twice the height of a human. They have powerful legs, their entire body and face are covered in fur, and their long spiky hair falls below their shoulders. The face is flat, with a protruding lower jaw and a broad, flattened nose. In the place of the eyes of the sasquatch as if two coals are burning. The color of his fur changes depending on the season: in winter his fur is white, in summer - gray.

Bigfoots have telepathy. They cannot read the minds of humans, but they can control their consciousness. Thus one of the Bigfoots at different places in the story terrifies Nanas (protagonist), though the latter cannot understand his nature exactly, shackles Nanas' consciousness when he sleeps, makes Hope (Nanas' companion) come to himself, paralyzes Nanas. Bigfoot can also transmit his thoughts and memories to people.

According to Seid (Dog-like intelligent mutant-telepath, Nanas' pet) once upon a time, humans and Bigfoot were one tribe, and each person's consciousness was open to all. Then the species split into two groups, one of which began to hide their consciousness from the others - This group evolved into modern humans.

Note: In the novel Metro 2033: Arkaim, the United Group “Guardian” (former soldiers of the Russian army) are at war with Bigfoot-like mutant telepaths.

Given that these creatures were found in a secret government lab near the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant, frozen in cryocapsules. My guess is that the Russian (possibly Soviet) government learned of the existence of Bigfoot and captured an unknown number of individuals, which they subsequently experimented on.