At least 700 construction workers are reportedly trapped and have gone months without pay in a remote town within Russia’s Far Eastern Chukotka region, as reported by the media on Thursday.

Zemtek, which provides services to the mining industry, halted wage payments to approximately 1,100 of its staff in March, according to labor rights advocate Natalia Demenko, who spoke with the exiled news outlet Govorit NeMoskva.

The report indicated that some workers who refused to work without compensation were deprived of food for at least 36 hours.

Eventually, about 400 of these rotational workers were flown from the isolated town of Bilibino to Magadan, located roughly 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) away, after Demenko alerted law enforcement about their predicament. She mentioned that some individuals had resorted to taking out loans to afford their flight to Magadan.

Rotational workers are typically employed in isolated regions and are temporarily flown to job sites rather than moving their families there permanently.

Currently, around 700 workers are still stranded in Bilibino. Demenko reported that Zemtek unexpectedly canceled their planned evacuation flights this week without providing a reason.

Earlier this month, the stranded workers released a video message appealing to President Vladimir Putin for assistance in arranging their return home, stating, “We’re being held here against our will.”

Founded by CEO Sergei Andrianov in 2015, Zemtek has purportedly committed to settling the unpaid wages by May 30.