I think many have heard about the famous Dyatlov group, which in February 1959 was found near Dead Mountain in Ural regions. I came across a new interview on the Internet, which published “ Russian newspaper" I think that blog readers will be interested in reading it.
© ,Ekaterinburg journalist, author of the books “The Price of State Secrets is Nine Lives” and “Murder at Dead Man Mountain” Anatoly Gushchin completed work on a new edition of his investigation into the death of Igor Dyatlov’s tour group in the Northern Urals in February 1959.
The journalist has been struggling to unravel the circumstances of the death of seven boys and two girls for 20 years. And he first learned about the tragedy when he was six years old: sitting at the kitchen table, his father and uncle, a policeman, wondered what could have happened to the boys. That’s exactly how they discussed it in kitchens and with loved ones, in those days and for many, many decades to come. mysterious death students. In Soviet times, it was not customary to speak openly about this disaster. The criminal case was considered secret, and people who were involved in the tragedy signed a non-disclosure agreement with the KGB about the facts known to them. This also applied to the relatives of the victims: they were also forbidden to tell anyone about the death of their loved ones.
The first publications about the tragedy in the media appeared in the late nineties. Journalists collected testimonies from people, documents related in one way or another to the death of students. Anatoly Gushchin is one of the few journalists who studied the primary source - the criminal case about the Dyatlov group - and talked with one of the key witnesses in the official investigation of the tragedy - forensic expert Henrietta Churkina, an experienced specialist and an insightful person. In 1999, Gushchin published his first book, in which he outlined everything that by that time he had managed to find out about the causes of the death of the tour group. From the very beginning there was a version about a military trace in the events in the Northern Urals.
At the same time, other versions multiplied, but no one gave an answer to the main question of why the tourists died. The Dyatlov Pass tragedy has already received worldwide resonance. Only for recent years Several films have been made about her documentaries, Radio Liberty reported on the death of the students. Hollywood couldn’t resist either - it released the thriller “The Mystery of the Dyatlov Pass”, which was recently shown in cinemas across the country.
Anatoly Ivanovich, do you really think that cinema and television only interfere with revealing the mystery of the deaths of students?
Anatoly Gushchin: You involuntarily come to this opinion when you watch movies or TV shows. After all, the creators of the same thriller, for example, set a completely different task - to make a box-office film. For them, the mysterious death of people is just an excuse, material for the plot. Therefore, in the end it turned out to be a “horror film” in the spirit of the Cold War. Fairy tale. Of course, it is impossible to say that such a film brings us closer to the solution to the tragedy. It definitely removes us from real events. The same effect occurs after numerous television programs. TV people are also trying to make a kind of show out of this topic. The main thing for them is to attract attention. They don’t set the task of revealing the secret. And if so, then what is this if not “dancing on the bones”?
But is it possible that in this way they manage to attract the attention of those who know the solution to the tragedy? Will the same people who work in secret archives finally decide to reveal the secret?
Anatoly Gushchin: It is this path - the archival one - that, in my opinion, may be the most promising. Everything else is hot air.
But you also participate in the filming of television films. For what?
Anatoly Gushchin: Yes, I participated. And every time I saw what they made of it, I spat and regretted that I agreed to filming. Not a single TV channel has ever shown what I said. Some strange passages, fragments of phrases. You even feel awkward after this. You feel that you were used, but again not in order to reveal the secret or at least get closer to it, but for some other purposes.
One of your main versions of the disaster is a missile one. In the new book, do you substantiate and develop exactly this?
Anatoly Gushchin: Yes. This is a rocket version, but not related to space exploration, but to weapon testing. But this is an accident that occurred in connection with a failed test of some kind of bomb. Most likely neutron. In 1959, its tests were already underway. To do this, a mini-projectile was launched. It was supposed to fall in a pre-designated area, but there was a glitch and it fell in the wrong place. As a result, people who happened to be in this place at that time suffered. Here, in short, is what happened on that ill-fated February day in 1959.
Did you come to this assumption while studying the criminal case? If this is true, why haven't others who have studied it reached the same conclusions?
Anatoly Gushchin: You are right, not everyone adheres to the military version. Some emergency researchers, including those who studied the criminal case, believe that it was an unsuccessful rocket launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. But since it turned out to be so tragic, it was classified as “top secret.” It seems to me that this version does not stand up to criticism. It does not explain all the facts. But you are right, its adherents stubbornly defend their point of view. Why is this happening? The question is not easy. I've thought about this more than once. And I came to the conclusion that this happens because everyone has their own life experience and mindset. Based on this, each person forms his own point of view. At the same time, being at the mercy of his ideas, he stubbornly refuses to notice the contradictions in the same facts. It is no coincidence that supporters of the avalanche hypothesis of the tragedy appeared. A completely absurd hypothesis! But for some it is already becoming almost the most convincing! But if you carefully read the same criminal case, you will not find a single fact that would speak of an avalanche. It's just the opposite. From the criminal case, it is the military version that comes to the fore. There is a lot of indirect evidence of this. But most importantly, many participants in those events, primarily investigators and forensic experts, came to the military version. And their evidence, it seems to me, is much more important than any speculation.
Namely?
Anatoly Gushchin: In the late nineties, I had the opportunity to repeatedly communicate with a very important witness of those events - Henrietta Eliseevna Makushkina (in 1959 she had a different last name - Churkina). It was she who did the examination of the Dyatlov tent, which, it is believed, tourists cut with a knife when, in a panic, scared to death of something or someone, they ran away from it half naked down the slope of Mount Otorten, where later everyone died.... So, , Henrietta Eliseevna said: “It was not difficult to determine whether the tent was cut from the inside or the outside. However, along with this, we could also name the date of the cut with an accuracy of one day (now this would be a very important indicator for us, because there is no exact data on the date of death of tourists either!). And also the thickness of the knife blade. But these parameters were not required from us. There was only one task: to say whether the cuts were from the inside or the outside. That's all. That’s what we did...” Henrietta Eliseevna was sure that the tent was cut not with an ordinary knife, but with a special one, clearly related to edged weapons, but, on the other hand, she understood perfectly well that this truth was contraindicated and could even be dangerous. Therefore, she recorded in the examination exactly what was required of her.
But that's not all. Churkina was also present during the medical examination of the corpses, which was carried out by forensic expert Boris Vozrozhdenny. “I remember well,” she recalled, “when they took off the clothes from the dead and hung them on ropes, we immediately noticed that it had some strange light purple hue, although it was different colors. I asked Boris: “Don’t you think the clothes have been treated with something?” He agreed. When it was discovered that Lyudmila Dubinina, one of the dead students, had no tongue, we were even more surprised. “Where could he have gone?” - I asked again. Boris shrugged. However, he later suggested that if the corpse was frozen and transported, then the tongue could simply break off, like an icy piece of ice, from strong blow. And then, already in the spring, he was washed with water in the stream in which Dubinina’s corpse was found...” So, these confessions are certainly not myth-making, you will agree. The fact that no one pulled out the tongue is also evidenced by the fact that the tissues in the oral cavity were intact and not damaged.
It would seem that Churkina did not report many facts in her story, but in fact they say a lot. The main thing is who transported the corpses and why? And what was transported is proven by other examination materials. The criminal case repeatedly states that the bodies (almost all) had injuries received both during life and after death. As a rule, these are scratches. How could they appear on the dead? Another interesting point: there were scratches, but no blood! The same forensic expert Vozrozhdeniy, during autopsies of corpses, noted that some had traces of dried blood in the nose. But why only in the nose? According to Churkina, the corpses were washed, which is why there were no traces of blood on them, although there were not enough scratches on the body. True, these scratches already had the appearance of scabs, that is, they were beginning to heal. And if so, then there is reason to believe that people did not die immediately, but some time after the emergency. However, food was taken at the same time - 6-8 hours before death. At the same time, they could not have died at the same time, since only three had serious injuries, the rest were intact, and if so, they could live longer.
But do these facts prove that the cause of death was a bomb?
Anatoly Gushchin: Yes, they prove it, but indirectly. The clothes of the dead were treated with some kind of chemical solution, indicating that they were disinfected. Isn't that right? Why would this need to be done if people died, say, due to an avalanche? But there is other evidence that proves that this could not have happened without a bomb (shell). The investigator himself, Lev Ivanov, who led the case (or rather, did not conduct it, but confused it, as the party authorities demanded), many years later, already working as the prosecutor of the Kustanai region, recalled: “You know, many years have passed, I have seen a lot of all sorts of cases during my prosecutorial life , but I can’t forget this story... I think that the tourists were killed by a UFO! By the way, I assumed this even then. I don’t presume to say unequivocally whether it’s a weapon or not, but I’m sure that a UFO had something to do with the death of the guys. It was not an explosion as we are accustomed to. It was different, as if balloon burst. I think it was a glowing ball. It was something like a shock wave...” It seems to me that we cannot not trust the investigator. But he also points out that the problem is a bomb.
What kind of bomb is this?
Anatoly Gushchin: IN in this case it's not that important. The weapons could be very different. Neutron bomb, vacuum, beam... But you never know? There were all sorts of tests. At that time the technologies were just being developed, so there were failures. By the way, launches could be carried out not from the ground, but from submarines.
What does the radiation on the clothes of the dead indicate?
Anatoly Gushchin: The level of radiation found on some students' clothing was low: only twice the normal level. But in the mountains the level of radiation is always higher than on the plain. In addition, not so far away is Novaya Zemlya, perhaps the radiation is coming from there. As is known, nuclear weapons tests took place there. It is still impossible to live on the island because of this. I think that the radiation on the clothes of the victims is the least indication that the bomb had a nuclear charge. The nature of the explosion from which they suffered was different. Most likely, it was still a neutron bomb.
And that’s why you think this case turned out to be so secret?
Anatoly Gushchin: Not only that. There are other reasons that do not allow it to be declassified. In 1959, any test of new weapons was considered a state secret. It seems to me that the tragedy in the Ural mountains happened like this. A bomb was launched, which fell not on the test site, which, as some sources indicate, was in the Saran-Paul area, but near Mount Otorten, where the tourists were located. As a result, they were injured, but survived. When the military arrived at the site of the shell, they realized that a tragedy had occurred. A decision was made to remove tourists from the scene of the emergency. They were taken by helicopter to the location of a military unit that was participating in testing new weapons. The victims were examined there. The result was disappointing: it became clear that the tourists would not last long and would die anyway. It is impossible to take them to a regular hospital - they turned out to be carriers of state secrets. Moreover, it was no longer possible to cure them. Meanwhile, the UPI has already begun to sound the alarm in connection with the disappearance of the Dyatlov group. Relatives demanded that the search for the boys begin. The intelligence services and military faced a difficult situation: what to do with carriers of state secrets? Where should I put them? Give it to your parents? None of these options were suitable. This moment is the most terrible and tragic. Because the special services had no choice but to get rid of the tourists doomed to death... It doesn’t fit in my head, but this is exactly the logic of events. Again, this is evidenced by the facts.
What are these facts?
Anatoly Gushchin: The fact is that a careful study of the materials of the criminal case shows that this could not have happened without the military. They left numerous traces that were included in reports and telephone messages of search engines. So, when they discovered the tent, everyone saw traces leading from it towards the forest. Some noted that they were left by people wearing boots. The heel was imprinted in places. However, when the dead were found, none of them were wearing boots. The question arises: who walked in them? In addition, an ebonite sheath was found at the scene of the emergency, which turned out to be unidentified relatives. Who did they belong to? One more point: the search engines noted that there were tracks leading down from the tent, but not a word about whether there was a ski track leading to the tent itself. And after nine people have passed, the ski track should remain deep.
This is the assumption made about what happened in a conversation with investigator Ivanov by Lyudmila Dubinina’s father, a senior employee of the Sverdlovsk Economic Council in those years: “If some kind of projectile was launched, and it deviated and did not hit the intended test site, then, in my opinion, the department, which fired the projectile was supposed to send aerial reconnaissance to the place where it fell and exploded. To find out what he could have done there and, of course, to provide assistance to possible victims. If this was not done, then this is a callous attitude on the part of the department towards people, be they tourists or hunters. If aerial reconnaissance was sent, then, presumably, it picked up the people... I did not share what was stated here with anyone, I think it is not subject to disclosure..."
The reader, without my prompting, will see and appreciate the imprint of time on the psychology of a father who has just lost his beloved daughter. And a few years ago, a former UPI graduate, now the chairman of the Dyatlov Foundation, Yuri Kuntsevich, said: “I see this tragedy like this. There was no tent on the mountainside. What's the point of putting it there? The forest is only one and a half kilometers away. The tourist camp was within the borders of the forest. They simply became witnesses and at the same time victims of testing new weapons. Perhaps a neutron bomb, which kills all living things, but leaves natural and man-made objects intact. Neutron rays hit in a straight line; tourists were partially protected by folds in the terrain. But they suffered... Further events— re-enactment of natural death in extreme conditions. What do they mean human lives, when it comes to state secrets? I also share this point of view. Therefore, I think it is still a military secret. And not only because it is connected with the testing of secret weapons, but also because the intelligence services had a hand in this, that the people who participated in the operation may still be alive...
Or this is another piece of evidence. Once we talked about this topic with the former secretary of the Sverdlovsk regional party committee, Valery Romanov. I told him what conclusion I was coming to, he answered the following: “It was an accident: the guys were in the wrong place at the wrong time. There was a test there, they were hit and because of this they died. I heard about this from senior party comrades.” Well, of course! From the very beginning, the top officials of the region were aware of what actually happened to the tourists - the regional committee immediately took control of this matter. Of course, they might not have known all the details, but they definitely knew the essence.
Back in the nineties, when I worked at the Ural Worker newspaper, we sent a number of requests from the editors to various military departments regarding emergencies. There was not a single line from the USSR Ministry of Defense. From the commander-in-chief of the Strategic Missile Forces - too. The only one who answered was the famous academician rocket scientist Boris Rauschenbach. He expressed the conviction that the “ends” of this story should be sought in the military department. Here is another indirect confirmation for you. And not from just anyone, but from a very knowledgeable person: Rauschenbach, let me remind you, was one of the founders of Russian cosmonautics.
Colleagues from " Komsomolskaya Pravda"and from Channel One they propose to resume the investigation of the criminal case into the death of the Dyatlov group. What do you think of this idea?
Anatoly Gushchin: The idea is correct and the only promising one from the point of view of clarifying the truth. At one time we also tried to implement it. Together with Yuri Kuntsevich, in the late 90s, they suggested that the relatives of the victims contact the prosecutor’s office with a request for a new investigation. And such a statement was sent to the regional prosecutor Tuikov. But there was no movement: a lot of time had passed, the case was being conducted extremely poorly, or rather, for the prosecutor’s office employees it was completely obvious! — was deliberately confusing. Based on the materials it contains, no unambiguous conclusion can be drawn. Therefore, the prosecutor's office refused. But this does not mean that we should abandon the idea of a new investigation. Quite the opposite: time is running out, some documents may have already been or are about to be removed as “secret” - and the investigation may receive a folder with documents that contain a direct solution to the mystery.
Do you think such a folder exists?
Anatoly Gushchin: Certainly. This is stated in the criminal case itself. There is a note from the prosecutor: “Pages from such and such to such and such should be kept in a secret archive.” These pages are not in the file. We have to look.
In which departments?
Anatoly Gushchin: First of all, where Academician Rauschenbach advised: in the military departments. It’s hard to say which one. But there is a feeling that in the Strategic Missile Forces and the Navy: many launches were then practiced from submarines. And, of course, in the archives of the KGB and the CPSU Central Committee. Let me remind you of one episode. A few years after the tragedy, Yuri Krivonischenko’s father wrote a letter to the CPSU Central Committee and asked, as a communist, to answer him what happened to his son. I received a response where, after condolences, there was the following phrase: “Those responsible for what happened have been punished.” We need to figure out what it was: a carbon copy or an essential, informal answer? If the latter, then we need to find out what the Central Committee had in mind: were the UPI leaders punished, who could not have allowed the guys to go on the campaign, but did let them, or were there people whose direct actions led to the death of the guys?
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In the version of the murder of the Dyatlov group, evidence appeared that led to new conclusions. The reason for this was the appearance on the program “Actually” of the only witness - pensioner Veniamin. Elderly man stated that he knew the killer and was the last person to see the group alive.
Before their difficult hike, tourists stopped in the village of Vizhay, which was a special regime camp. There they were greeted cordially, after which the group went to the village "41 quarter". Prisoners and civilian workers who extracted wood lived there. Despite their past, they treated tourists with care, fed them and showed them a couple of films. Radio amateur Valentin Degterev believes that there were no attempts to persuade the girls from the group to have sex.
Eyewitness Veniamin claims that the commander sent him, along with a horse and a coachman, to accompany Dyatlov’s group to the “Second Northern Mine.” At the same time, the witness became confused in his testimony. According to him, people walked, but the photographs show that they were skiing.
At the very beginning of the hike, the tenth member of the group, Yuri Yudin, abandoned the trip. In the footage, Degterev noticed a lagging tourist, but found something strange.
"There are eight people in the picture. One is taking a photograph. In total there are nine of them. And where is our soldier named Veniamin? He is not in a sleigh, not on skis, because he did not know that the group was going to the village of the Second Northern Mine on skis . So where is he?!" – wrote Valentin.
Witness Veniamin claims that he led the Dyatlovites to the Mansi’s home, where they were met by a certain Andrei. At the same time, the criminal case states that no one lived in the settlement at that time. According to Veniamin, this man was the killer, since the tourists did not share alcohol and money with him.
Radio amateur Valentin suggested that there were illegal gold miners in this village.
“The business was a source of considerable income for the head of the camp, as well as for his subordinates. Somehow, the Dyatlovites saw how this production was going on,” added Degterev.
Several people attacked Dyatlov’s group and dealt harshly with them, since in those days execution was prescribed for illegal gold mining.
Thus, the real reason What happened was that tourists saw the forbidden and paid for it. The authorities knew the truth, but deliberately confused the matter so as not to aggravate relations with the Mansi people.
The pass is named after Igor Dyatlov, the leader of an expedition of tourists who planned to climb to a height of 1 thousand 79 m in the Subpolar Urals. On the night of February 2, 1959, Dyatlov and eight other members of his group died under unclear circumstances.
Experienced young people, who were climbing the mountain not for the first time, for some reason found themselves scantily clad, some without shoes and almost all without outerwear. It is also strange that the tent was cut up - the guys got out of it hastily, also for an unknown reason. The injuries of the dead also raise many questions: traces of nosebleeds as in barotrauma, damage to internal organs, numerous bone fractures, and all this in the absence of traces of external influence.
Almost everyone has heard about the Dyatlov Pass. Many films have been made and even more articles have been written about the terrible tragedy that happened in the Northern Urals in 1959 with a group of tourists led by Igor Dyatlov.
There are many versions of the death of the Dyatlov group. They talk about unusual natural phenomena, secret tests and even UFOs... Unfortunately, as often happens, most of those who made films and wrote these newspaper articles never saw either the investigation materials or the results of examinations of this case. We will try to talk about the death of the group without bias, based solely on investigative materials.
Tent under the snow
On February 1, 1959, a group of tourist skiers (mostly students from Sverdlovsk) began climbing the mountain marked on their map as No. 1079. These were Igor Dyatlov (23 years old), Zinaida Kolmogorova (22 years old), Yuri Doroshenko (21 years old), Yuri Krivonischenko (23 years old), Lyudmila Dubinina (20 years old), Alexander Kolevatov (24 years old), Rustem Slobodin (23 years old) , Thibault-Brignolle Nikolay (23 years old), Zolotarev Alexander (37 years old).
On February 12, the group was supposed to arrive in the village of Vizhay and send a telegram to the sports club about the completion of the route. They didn't come. A search operation was launched in the mountains. On February 26, an abandoned tent was found on the eastern slope of that same mountain. She was cut from the inside.
The Dyatlov group's tent was found by search engines Boris Slobtsov and Mikhail Sharavin, UPI students. Examining the eastern slope of the ridge with binoculars, Sharavin noticed a mound in the snow that looked like a littered tent. When the searchers came closer, they saw that the entire tent was covered with snow, from under which only the entrance was visible. Only the skis stuck into the snow stuck above the surface. The tent itself was covered with a hard layer of snow 20 cm thick. Footprints in the snow, going into the forest, indicated that the tourists had hastily left their accommodation for the night, cutting the tarpaulin of the tent. After the tent was discovered, a search for tourists was organized.
Stripped corpses
The frozen and mutilated bodies of all nine members of the group were found within a radius of one and a half kilometers from the tent.
So, at the very border of the forest, near the remains of a fire pit, the corpses of Yuri Doroshenko and Yuri Krivonischenko were found. The boys' arms and legs were burned and cut. Moreover, both corpses were found in their underwear without shoes. The boys' clothes were cut off with a knife. These clothes were subsequently found on other members of the group. This indicated that both Yuri were practically the first to freeze...
The examination found traces of leather and other tissues on the tree trunk. The guys climbed the tree to the last to break branches for the fire, while peeling their already frostbitten hands to the flesh.
With all my might
Soon, with the help of dogs, under a thin layer of snow, on the line from the tent to the cedar, the corpses of Igor Dyatlov and Zina Kolmogorova were discovered.
Igor Dyatlov was approximately 300 meters from the cedar, and Zina Kolmogorova was approximately 750 meters from the tree. Igor Dyatlov's hand peeked out from under the snow. He froze in such a position, as if he wanted to get up and go in search of his comrades again.
180 meters from Dyatlov’s corpse, towards the tent, the corpse of Rustem Slobodin was found. He was under a layer of snow on a slope: conditionally, between the corpses of Dyatlov and Kolmogorova. One of his feet was shod in felt boots. Rustem Slobodin was found by search engines in the classic “dead body”, which is observed in people frozen directly in the snow.
A later forensic medical examination established that Dyatlov, Doroshenko, Krivonischenko and Kolmogorova died from exposure to low temperatures - no damage was found on their bodies, with the exception of minor scratches and abrasions.
An autopsy of Rustem Slobodin revealed a 6 cm long skull fracture, which he received during his lifetime. However, experts found that his death, like everyone else’s, was due to hypothermia.
Mangled bodies
On May 4, in the forest, 75 meters from the fire, under a four-meter layer of snow, the remaining corpses were found - Lyudmila Dubinina, Alexander Zolotarev, Nikolai Thibault-Brignolle and Alexander Kolevatov.
There were no injuries on the body of Alexander Kolevatov; death was due to hypothermia.
Alexander Zolotarev had broken ribs on the right. Nikolai Thibault-Brignolles had extensive hemorrhage in the right temporal muscle and a depressed fracture of the skull.
Lyudmila Dubinina had a symmetrical fracture of several ribs; death occurred from extensive hemorrhage in the heart within 15-20 minutes after receiving the injury. The corpse had no tongue. On the bodies found and next to them were the trousers and sweaters of Yuri Krivonischenko and Yuri Doroshenko who remained by the fire. This clothing had even traces of cuts...
The criminal case into the death of the Dyatlov group was discontinued with the following wording: “Taking into account the absence of external bodily injuries and signs of struggle on the corpses, the presence of all the group’s valuables, and also taking into account the conclusion of the forensic medical examination on the causes of death of tourists, it should be considered that the cause the death of tourists was a natural force that the tourists were unable to overcome.”
Over the following years, numerous attempts were made to understand what happened on the slope of that ill-fated mountain. A wide variety of versions have been put forward - from quite plausible to unlikely, and even delusional. At the same time, they often forgot about the existing facts...
The events of that tragic night when the Dyatlov group died, were recreated solely based on the materials of the investigation and subsequent criminal examinations. So those who are expecting aliens, fantastic anomalies and secret tests need not read further. Here there will be only fatal mistakes, hopelessness and life-sucking bitter cold Northern Urals…
Warnings and Errors
From the testimony of the forester of the Vizhaysky forestry I.D. Rempel: “On January 25, 1959, a group of tourists approached me, showed me their route and asked for advice. I told them that in winter it is dangerous to walk along the Ural ridge, since there are large gorges there that you can fall into, and there are rampant strong winds. To which they replied: “For us this will be considered first class difficulty.” Then I told them: “First we need to go through it...”
From the materials of the criminal case: “...knowing about the difficult terrain conditions of the height “1079”, where the ascent was supposed to be, Dyatlov, as the leader of the group, made a gross mistake, which resulted in the fact that the group began the ascent only at 15.00.”
Literally an hour later it began to get dark. Twilight was brought closer by the onset of snowfall, which found the group on the mountainside. Before sunset there was only time to set up the tent.
Those who have gone on winter hikes know that a cold overnight stay at minus twenty-five is a serious test. Moreover, this was their first overnight stop when they decided not to light the stove.
"At random"
The tourists set up the tent “in a branded way”: they pulled guy ropes onto ski poles. The Dyatlovites had a small tin stove with them, but it was not installed that day, since the roof of the tent sagged and a fire could occur. There were no problems with installation in the forest - the guys are attached to trees, but there are no trees on the mountain. The central part of the tent could have been additionally secured with guy ropes on the skis, but this was not done.
It would be reasonable to try to secure the center of the tent, not even in order to hang the stove, but in order to avoid sagging the slopes of the tent under the mass of snow. But they didn’t do that either. Already frozen.
What was the ridge on which the tourists found themselves? Moving to the top, Dyatlov’s group reached one of the main ridges of the Northern Urals - the so-called watershed. This is where the heaviest snowfall in winter occurs and powerful winds blow.
In a snow sarcophagus
By nightfall, everyone got rid of their wet outerwear and took off their shoes. All except Thibault-Brignolle and Zolotarev. These two remained dressed and shod. Zolotarev, apparently as an experienced tourist and instructor, did not relax. And Thibault-Brignolle was on duty.
With sunset the weather changed a lot. The wind picked up and snow began to fall. Heavy snow stuck to the slopes, stuck around and practically cemented the tent dug into the snow, making a sarcophagus out of it. Due to the lack of a central stretch, the tent sagged under a thick layer of snow. The tent was old, sewn in many places. The accident did not have to wait long. The fragile slopes burst in several places, and under the weight of the snow, the tent collapsed right on top of the tourists. Everything happened quickly, in complete darkness. It became dangerous to be in the tent. The tourists lay covered with an awning under a thick layer of snow. The cold, torn tent did not warm, did not provide warmth. It turned into a source of obvious danger - it threatened to become a common grave. Dyatlov and Krivonischenko, who were at the end of the tent, began to cut the slopes.
Hoping for salvation
Outside, new troubles awaited the tourists. Having got out of the tent, the guys were faced with snowfall of incredible force and density, with wind knocking them down. The emergency situation required a quick decision. The squall literally knocked people off their feet, the tent was overwhelmed, and digging through the snow with bare hands under the icy wind was suicide.
Dyatlov decided to seek salvation in the forest below. We insulated ourselves as best we could. We somehow distributed the things we had taken from the tent. They didn’t get the shoes, they couldn’t. Wind, snow and cold interfered. Rustem Slobodin managed to put on only felt boots.
The wind almost itself drove the Dyatlovites down. The guys tried to walk side by side. However, it is unlikely that in such a situation everyone was able to stay within sight. A terrible cold pierced the tourists, it was difficult to breathe, and even more difficult to think. Most likely, the group broke up. Testimony from one of the search engines, Boris Slobtsov: “...the tracks at first were in a cluster, next to each other, and then they diverged.”
First victim
On the way to the forest, tourists had to overcome several stone ridges. At the third ridge, misfortune befell the most athletic one. It was not possible to walk confidently in the snow - with one foot bare and the other shod with felt boots - especially through the icy stones of the kurumnik. The felt boot slid violently on the smooth surface. Rustem Slobodin lost his balance and fell extremely unsuccessfully, hitting his head hard on a stone. Most likely, the rest of the Dyatlovites, busy overcoming the ridge, did not pay attention to his lag at first. They realized it later, a little later: they started looking for him, screaming, calling.
Having woken up, Rustem Slobodin crawled some distance down before losing consciousness. The injury was very serious - a crack in the skull... He died first, frozen in an unconscious state.
Falls and injuries
Having reached the forest, the Dyatlov group lit a fire near a tall cedar tree, in the only place found in the dark where there was little snow underfoot. However, a fire in the wind is not salvation. It was necessary to find a place to hide. Dyatlov sent the most well-equipped members of the group - Zolotarev, Thibault-Brignolle and Lyuda Dubinina - to search for shelter. The three of them wandered to the border of the forest, avoiding a ravine at the bottom of which a stream flowed. In the darkness, the guys did not notice how they came to a steep seven-meter cliff and found themselves on a small snow ledge. Such “overhanging banks” near the tributaries of the North Ural rivers are a common occurrence. One has only to step on them in the darkness of the night, and tragedy is inevitable...
The fall from a seven-meter height onto the rocky bottom of the stream did not pass without a trace for all three; they all received multiple injuries, which were later described by a forensic expert: Thibault-Brignolle - serious injury heads, Zolotarev and Dubinina – chest injuries, multiple rib fractures. The boys could no longer move.
Fight for life
Now it is difficult to establish whether Sasha Kolevatov went with them to the place where they fell, or whether he and Igor Dyatlov found the guys later in a helpless state. Be that as it may, he did not abandon his comrades, he helped drag his friends higher along the stream, closer to the fire. Then Dyatlov, Kolevatov and Kolmogorov built a flooring of fir trees in a natural depression. It was very hard work. Everything was done with practically frozen hands, without gloves, without shoes, without warm outerwear. Ideally, it was necessary to move the wounded to the cedar, to the fire. But this was impossible. Between the wounded and the cedar there was a high steep ravine. The only way Sasha Kolevatov, Igor Dyatlov and Zina Kolmogorova could help their comrades was to make a second fire and maintain it. The group split up again. Walking between the fire and the decking was difficult. They were separated by a high snow wall. From the cedar to the flooring there were 70 endless meters.
Yura Doroshenko and Yura Krivonischenko remained to support the fire near the cedar.
Stress Sel e
On a windy hillock, near the border of the forest, where the cedar was located, it was not easy to build a fire. Peeling the skin down to the meat, the guys broke the only material that is flammable in winter - the paws of cedar. The fire was their salvation. However, the fire and the first signs of warmth played a cruel joke on the Yuri. They began to feel sleepy. Anyone who goes on a winter hike knows that sleeping in the cold is death. The guys began to deliberately injure themselves so that the pain would return consciousness, so as not to freeze in unconsciousness. The traces of these injuries will later be described by a forensic expert: burns, bites of the palms, scratches.
Alas, the guys lost in this battle... In psychology there is such a thing as Selye stress. As soon as a freezing person feels the first signs of warmth, he relaxes, and in extreme conditions this is fatal. Especially if there is no one to help. Both Yuri died before everyone else did.
Clothes on corpses
The condition of the wounded on the deck quickly deteriorated. It was difficult to determine who was still alive. Apparently, Dyatlov instructed Kolevatov to maintain the fire near the deck, and he himself decided to go to the first fire. He found Doroshenko and Krivonischenko there already frozen. Apparently, believing that it was necessary to warm the wounded, Dyatlov cut off some of their clothing. Alas, their comrades never came to their senses. Their death left a depressing impression on those left behind.
The last push
Now it is difficult to say who was the first to go again to look for the lagging behind Slobodin - Igor Dyatlov or Zinaida Kolmogorova. Be that as it may, they went in search of him, not wanting to get used to the idea that finding something in this situation was completely unrealistic...
That’s how they were found later – frozen on the slope: Slobodin, Kolmogorova and Dyatlov. Dyatlov froze in a volitional position, not curled up in the fetal position in which frozen people are usually found. Until his last breath, he tried to go forward in search of his comrades.
White Silence
Perhaps, without waiting for Dyatlov, Kolevatov went to the first fire, but found there only an extinguished fire and the dead bodies of Doroshenko and Krivonischenko. Probably at that moment the guy realized that Dyatlov and Zina were also already dead...
Kolevatov wandered back to the flooring where his dead friends lay. He understood perfectly well that there was no longer any chance of survival. It is difficult to imagine the degree of despair of this man.
Subsequently, on May 4, searchers found four corpses eaten by mice at this place. Some had missing eyes, some had missing tongues, some had eaten away cheeks.
P.S.
Before leaving the tent, Dyatlov stuck his skis into the snow as a guide. He hoped to return, but led the group to their deaths. Everything was predetermined in advance: fatigue, an old rotten tent erected at random, lack of firewood and the harsh climate of the Northern Urals. Even now, tourists go to Otorten along the riverbeds of the Lozva tributaries, and not along the dangerous Ural ridge, where only wild cold reigns.
More versions :
1. A UFO in the Dyatlov Pass area awaits researchers:
2. There could have been a big fight at the Dyatlov Pass:
3. The mystery of the Dyatlov Pass has been solved:
Contributing to the release of the book. This, of course, is only a small part of the entire book. But this is convenient for those who do not want or do not have the opportunity to order the entire book in printed form. In addition to the fact that you will contribute to the publication of the book and do a good deed to develop the history of your region, you will also receive a block of photographs from tourists’ films for the version. The first pages of the version were provided by the author to our portal.
Reconstruction version of the death of the Dyatlov group based on the materials of the investigation in a criminal case, after studying the main versions of the death of the group, as well as studying other factual data that are significant and are direct or indirect confirmation of the version.
In 1959, a group of students and graduates of the Sverdlovsk UPI went on a hike of the highest category of difficulty in the mountains of the Northern Urals. Their route is completely unknown. Tourists walk along it for the first time. The leader of the campaign, Igor Dyatlov, planned to complete the campaign in 20 days, but no one else was destined to return from the campaign alive. Except for one, who left the group citing poor health. Having decided to spend the night on the mountain with mark 1079, tourists find themselves in conditions that stop their last trip. However, according to route sheet hike, the group should not have stopped at this mountain at all. The search will be long and difficult. The findings will puzzle everyone. It is no coincidence that the local Mansi people nicknamed this mountain Khalatchakhl or “Mountain of the Dead”. But is everything as mysterious and inexplicable as some people imagine? After studying the materials of the criminal case and other factual data relevant to the essence of the tragedy, the author creates a version-reconstruction of the death of tourists, which he presents to readers, based on the facts, captivating the reader and inviting him to become a participant in the search and study of this difficult story.
1. Hike to Otorten
A hike to the Ural Mountains, to one of the peaks of the Poyasovaya Kamen ridge of the Northern Urals, to Mount Otorten was conceived by tourists from the tourism section of the sports club of the Ural Polytechnic Institute named after Sergei Kirov in the city of Sverdlovsk back in the fall of 1958. From the very beginning, Lyuda Dubinina, a 3rd year student, and several other guys were determined to go on a hike. But nothing worked out until an experienced tourist, 5th year student Igor Dyatlov, who already had experience leading groups, took charge of organizing the trip.
Initially the group was formed with 13 people. In this form, the composition of the group ended up in the draft route, which Dyatlov presented to the route commission:
But subsequently Vishnevsky, Popov, Bienko and Verkhoturov dropped out. However, shortly before the hike, the instructor of the Kourovka camp site on the Chusovaya River, Alexander Zolotarev, known almost only to Igor Dyatlov, was included in the group. He introduced himself to the guys as Alexander.
The tourists intended to take with them personal equipment and some equipment from the UPI sports club. The hike was timed to coincide with the beginning of the 21st Congress of the CPSU, for which they even received a permit from the UPI trade union committee. She subsequently helped to advance to the starting point of the route - the village of Vizhay and beyond, giving official status to tourists as participants in an organized event, and not a wild hike, when the group appeared in any public place where overnight accommodation or passing transport was required.
The route that Igor Dyatlov and his group were going to take was new, and none of the tourists from UPI or even the whole of Sverdlovsk had ever walked. Being the pioneers of the route, tourists intended to get to the village of Vizhay by train and by road, from the village of Vizhay to get to the village of Second Northern, then go northwest along the valley of the Auspiya River and along the tributaries of the Lozva River to Mount Otorten. After climbing this peak, it was planned to turn south and along the Belt Stone ridge along the upper reaches of the sources of the Unya, Vishera and Niols rivers to Mount Oiko-Chakur (Oykachakhl). From Oiko-Chakur in an easterly direction along the valleys of the Malaya Toshemka or Bolshaya Toshemka rivers, until they merge into Northern Toshemka, then to the highway and again to the village of Vizhay.
According to the Project of the hike, which was approved by the Chairman of the Route Commission Korolev and member of the March Commission Novikov, Dyatlov expected to spend 20 or 21 days on the hike.
This hike was assigned the highest third category of difficulty according to the then existing system for determining the categories of hikes in sports tourism. According to the instructions in force at that time, a “troika” was awarded if the trip lasted at least 16 days, at least 350 km would be covered, of which 8 days would be in sparsely populated areas, and if at least 6 overnight stays would be made in the field. Dyatlov planned twice as many such overnight stays.
The release was scheduled for January 23, 1959. Igor Dyatlov intended to return with the group to Sverdlovsk on February 12-13. And before, from the village of Vizhay, the UPI sports club and the city sports club of Sverdlovsk should have received a telegram from him stating that the route had been successfully completed. This was a common practice of hiking and a requirement of the instructions to report to the sports club. Initially it was planned to return to Vizhay and give a telegram about the return on February 10. However, Igor Dyatlov postponed the return date to Vizhay to February 12. Igor Dyatlov's precise engineering calculations underwent a change in schedule due to one extraordinary circumstance, which became the first failure in the group event. At the first stage of the hike, Yuri Yudin left the route.
The Dyatlov group began the hike to Otorten on January 23, 1959 from the railway station in Sverdlovsk, consisting of 10 people: Igor Dyatlov, Zina Kolmogorova, Rustem Slobodin, Yuri Doroshenko, Yuri Krivonischenko, Nikolai Thibault-Brignolles, Lyudmila Dubinina, Alexander Zolotarev, Alexander Kolevatov and Yuri Yudin. However, on the 5th day of the hike, January 28, Yuri Yudin left the group for health reasons. He left with a group from the last settlement on the route - the village of 41st quarter and walked to the non-residential village of Second North, when he had a problem with his legs. He would obviously have delayed the group, as he moved slowly even without a backpack. He was lagging behind. Lost formation. However, in that transition between these villages, 41st quarter-Second Northern, tourists were unlucky. In the village, tourists going on a hike to meet the 21st Congress of the CPSU were given a horse. The backpacks of tourists from the village of 41 quarters to the village of Second Northern were carried by a horse and driver on a sleigh. Ill Yuri Yudin returns to Sverdlovsk.
The equipment at that time of tourism development was very heavy and imperfect. Very heavy backpacks of an old design, a bulky tent made of heavy tarpaulin, a stove weighing about 4 kilograms, several axes, a saw. An additional increase in the load in the form of the mass of backpacks and the very departure of Yuri Yudin from the group prompted us to postpone the control time of the group’s arrival back to Vizhay by two days. Dyatlov asked Yudin to warn the UPI sports club about postponing the return telegram from February 10 to February 12.
The description of this reconstruction version contains a possible presumption of responsibility and seriousness of intentions of the participants in the campaign to return safe and sound. Speculation regarding the unsportsmanlike behavior of the hike participants, which caused the death of the group, is excluded.
- Dyatlov Igor Alekseevich born 01/13/36 recently turned 23 years old
- Kolmogorova Zinaida Alekseevna born January 12, 1937, recently turned 22 years old,
- Doroshenko Yuri Nikolaevich born 01/29/38, on the 6th day of the campaign he turns 21 years old
- Krivonischenko Georgy (Yura) Alekseevich born 02/07/1935, 23 years old, he should have turned 24 years old during the campaign,
- Dubinina Lyudmila Aleksandrovna born May 12, 1938 20 years old
- Kolevatov Alexander Sergeevich born November 16, 1934 24 years old
- Slobodin Rustem Vladimirovich born 01/11/1936, recently turned 23 years old,
- Thibault-Brignolle Nikolai Vasilievich born 06/05/1935 23 years old
- Zolotarev Alexander Alekseevich born 02/02/1921 37 years old.
There is no connection with tourists. Nobody in Sverdlovsk knows how the campaign proceeds. Tourists do not have walkie-talkies. There are no intermediate points on the route from where tourists would connect with the city. On February 12, the UPI sports club did not receive the agreed upon telegram about the end of the hike. Tourists do not return to Sverdlovsk on February 12, February 15, or February 16. But the chairman of the UPI sports club, Lev Gordo, sees no reason for concern. Then the relatives of the tourists sounded the alarm. At that time, there were no structures of the Ministry of Emergency Situations; the search for missing tourists was carried out by sports committees, trade union committees, city committees with the support of internal troops and the armed forces. The search began on February 20, 1959. UPI students, the sports community of Sverdlovsk, and military personnel took a great part in the search. In total, several groups of search engines were recruited. The search teams always included UPI students. The groups were delivered to the areas that Dyatlov's group must pass along their route. The accident and its consequences should have been discovered by Dyatlov’s classmates. The organizers of the search hardly doubted that something irreparable had happened. But the search was widespread. Military and civil aviation from Ivdel airport were involved. Much attention was paid to the search for students. great attention due to the fact that two participants in the campaign, UPI graduates, Rustem Slobodin and Yura Krivonischenko, were engineers from secret defense mailboxes. Slobodin worked at a research institute. Krivonischenko at the production facility where the first was created atomic weapons. Nowadays this production association “Mayak” is located in the city of Ozersk, Chelyabinsk region.
Several search groups looked for tourists from the Dyatlov group at various supposed points along the route. After the discovery of the first corpses of tourists, the prosecutor's office opened a criminal case, which began to be investigated by the prosecutor of the city of Ivdel closest to the site of the tragedy, junior counselor of justice V.I. Tempalov. Then the preliminary investigation was continued and completed by the prosecutor-criminologist of the prosecutor's office of the Sverdlovsk region, junior counselor of justice L.N. Ivanov.
The first to find the Dyatlov camp were search engines Boris Slobtsov and Misha Sharavin, UPI students. It turned out to be installed on the eastern slope of peak 1096. Otherwise, this peak was called – Mount Khalatchakhl. Halatchakhl – this is a Mansi name. Several legends are associated with this mountain. The indigenous Mansi people preferred not to go to this mountain. There was a belief that on this mountain a certain spirit killed 9 Mansi hunters, and since then everyone who climbs the mountain will face the curse of the shamans. Halatchakhl in the Mansi language sounds like this - the Mountain of the Dead.
On April 15, 1959, Boris Slobtsov told Prosecutor Ivanov how the tent was found:
“I flew to the scene of the incident by helicopter on February 23, 1959. I led the search party. The tent of the Dyatlov group was discovered by our group on the afternoon of February 26, 1959.
When we approached the tent, we discovered that the entrance of the tent protruded from under the snow, and the rest of the tent was under the snow. Around the tent in the snow there were ski poles and spare skis - 1 pair. The snow on the tent was 15-20 cm thick, it was clear that the snow was inflated on the tent, it was hard.
Near the tent, near the entrance, an ice ax was stuck in the snow; on the tent, in the snow, lay a pocket lantern, Chinese, which, as was later established, belonged to Dyatlov. What was not clear was that under the lantern there was snow about 5-10 cm thick, there was no snow above the lantern, there was a little snow on the sides.”
Below you will often find extracts from interrogation reports and other materials of the criminal case, often the only factual documents that shed light on the tragedy. During the investigation, search engines and other witnesses were interrogated, who provided the investigation with certain factual data. It should be noted that the lines of the protocols in this case were not always “dry” or “clerical”; sometimes the protocols even contained lengthy discussions about the state of tourism and the level of organization of searches for tourists. But sometimes some data later surfaced in the memories of search engines or eyewitnesses of the search.
Boris Slobtsov, who discovered the tent, later specified the details of the discovery of the tent in one of his articles in the All-Russian magazine of extreme travel and adventures:
“Our path with Sharavin and the hunter Ivan lay to a pass in the valley of the Lozva River and further to a ridge from which we hoped to view Mount Otorten with binoculars. At the Sharavin pass, looking through binoculars at the eastern slope of the ridge, I saw something in the snow that looked like a littered tent. We decided to go up there, but without Ivan. He said that he wasn’t feeling well and would wait for us at the pass (we realized that he just got cold feet). As we approached the tent, the slope became steeper and the crust thicker, and we had to leave our skis and walk the last tens of meters without skis, but with poles.
Finally, we came up against a tent, we stood there in silence and didn’t know what to do: the tent slope in the center was torn, there was snow inside, some things were sticking out, skis were sticking out, an ice ax was stuck in the snow at the entrance, no people were visible, it was scary, it was creepy! ."
(“Rescue work in the Northern Urals, February 1959, Dyatlov Pass”, EKS magazine, No. 46, 2007).
On February 26, 1959, a tent was discovered. After the tent was discovered, a search for tourists was organized.
The Ivdel prosecutor was called to the scene. The inspection of the tent by prosecutor Tempalov was dated February 28, 1959. But the first investigative action was an examination of the first discovered corpses, which was carried out on February 27, 1959. The corpse of Yura Krivonischenko and the corpse of Yura Doroshenko (at first he was mistaken for the corpse of A. Zolotarev) were found down in the ravine, between Mount Khalatchakhl and height 880, where there was a bed of a stream flowing into the fourth tributary of the Lozva. Their bodies lay near a tall cedar tree, at a distance of about 1,500 meters from the tent, on a hillock at the base of height 880, at the base of the pass, which would later be called in their memory “The Dyatlov Group Pass.” A fire pit was discovered next to the cedar tree. The corpses of two Yuras were found in their underwear without shoes.
Then, with the help of dogs, under a thin layer of snow of 10 cm on the line from the tent to the cedar tree, the corpses of Igor Dyatlov and Zina Kolmogorova were discovered. They also had no outerwear and no shoes, but they were still better dressed. Igor Dyatlov was at a distance of approximately 1200 meters from the tent and approximately 300 meters from the cedar, and Zina Kolmogorova was at a distance of approximately 750 meters from the tent and approximately 750 meters from the cedar. Igor Dyatlov’s hand peeked out from under the snow, leaning on a birch tree. He froze in such a position, as if ready to get up and go in search of his comrades again.
With the protocol of the inspection of the first corpses found, which became the protocol of the inspection of the scene of the incident, the active phase of the investigation of the criminal case into the death of tourists from the Dyatlov group began. After the discovery of the first corpses, and the discovery of a tent torn in several places, the corpse of Rustem Slobodin will soon be found under the snow. He was under a layer of snow of 15-20 centimeters on a slope between the corpses of Dyatlov and Kolmogorova, about 1000 meters from the tent and about 500 meters from the cedar. Slobodina also had no better clothes; one foot was shod in felt boots. As the forensic examination later showed, all the tourists found died from frostbite. An autopsy of Rustem Slobodin will reveal a 6 cm long skull fracture, which he received during his lifetime. Rustem Slobodin was found by searchers in the classic “corpse bed”, which is observed in frozen people if the body cooled directly on the snow. Then began a long search for the remaining tourists Nikolai Thibault-Brignol, Lyudmila Dubinina, Alexander Kolevatov, Alexander Zolotarev. The snow cover of the slope, the open forest zones and the forest area around the cedar were combed by search engines with dogs, and probed with avalanche probes. They no longer believed in the salvation of the Dyatlovites. The search continued throughout February, March and April. And on May 5, after grueling, long and difficult search work, while excavating snow in a ravine, they found the flooring.
Next to the decking, 6 meters from it, in the bed of a stream flowing along the bottom of the ravine, the last four corpses of tourists were found. The decking and tourists were dug out from under a large layer of snow. The excavation site was pointed out in May by fir branches and pieces of clothing from the Dyatlov group that had just melted from under the snow. On May 6, the corpses in the ravine and the flooring were examined.
The location of the discovery of the flooring and corpses “in the ravine” can be authentically determined from the materials of the criminal case.
In the protocol of the inspection of the scene of the incident dated May 6, 1959, carried out by prosecutor Tempalov, the location of the last corpses is described as follows:
“On the slope of the western side of height 880 from the famous cedar, 50 meters in the stream, 4 corpses were found, three of them were men and one woman. The woman's corpse has been identified as Lyudmila Dubinina. The corpses of the men cannot be identified without lifting them.
All corpses are in the water. They were excavated from under the snow with a depth of 2.5 meters to 2 meters. Two men and a third lie with their heads facing north along the stream. Dubinina’s corpse lay in the opposite direction with its head against the flow of the stream.”(from the criminal case materials)
In the Resolution to terminate the criminal case, issued by the prosecutor-criminologist Ivanov on May 28, 1959, the location of the flooring and corpses is more precisely determined:
“75 meters from the fire, towards the valley of the fourth tributary of the Lozva, i.e. perpendicular to the path of tourists from the tent, under a layer of snow 4-4.5 meters away, the corpses of Dubinina, Zolotarev, Thibault-Brignolle and Kolevatov were discovered.”
(from the criminal case materials)
This perpendicular can be seen in the diagram from the criminal case.
(from the criminal case materials)
70 meters from the cedar. “To the Lozva River” - this means from the cedar to the northwest. The stream past the cedar flows from south to north towards Lozva. It flows into the 4th tributary of the Lozva.
The location of the flooring and the last four corpses can be schematically depicted as follows:
Location of the ravine on the area map:
The ravine was covered with snow in February and from March to April until May 6, 1959. The ravine was also covered with snow in April 2001, when M. Sharavin was there as part of the Popov-Nazarov expedition...
Between the tent and the cedar there was a ravine, along the bottom of which a stream flows. The ravine stretches from south to north in the direction of the stream flowing along its bottom to the 4th tributary of the Lozva. But by February 26, the ravine was already covered with snow. It’s not even noticeable that just recently there was a ravine here. Only the right slope is visible east coast stream, which rose to a height of approximately 5-7 meters. Search engine Yuri Koptelov showed this.
“At the edge (further the slope was steeper) we saw several pairs of pairs of footprints, deep, on the firn snow. They walked perpendicular to the slope of the tent into the valley of the tributary of the river. Lozva. We crossed from the left bank of the valley to the right and after about 1.5 km we came up against a wall, 5-7 meters high, where the stream made a turn to the left. In front of us was height 880, and on the right there was a pass, which was later called the lane. Dyatlova. We climbed up the ladder (head-on) to this wall. I'm on the left, Mikhail is to the right of me. In front of us were rare low birch trees and fir trees, and then a large cedar tree rose.”
(from the criminal case materials)
It seems quite reliable that Yuri Koptelov described the place of the supposed fall of tourists Zolotarev, Dubinina and Thibault-Brignolle. It can be reliably assumed that the place from which the fir and birch trees were cut for flooring are those same “rare low birches and fir trees” from Koptelov’s description. And Yuri Koptelov climbed with Misha Sharavin a little to the right of the wall, where the wall is not so high and more flat, which makes climbing the ladder on skis head-on more possible. This is just about opposite the cedar.
The corpses of the last 4 tourists were found in a ravine under a layer of snow 2-2.5 meters thick.
Considering that the bottom of the ravine on February 1 was not yet covered with snow, because... It was after February 1 that witnesses noted heavy snowfalls and blizzards in the area of the Poyasovy Kamen ridge (their testimony is below), then a fall onto the rocky bottom from a steep slope 5-7 meters high seems very dangerous. But more on that below.
“January 31, 1959 Today the weather is a little worse - wind (westerly), snow (apparently from the fir trees) because the sky is completely clear. We left relatively early (around 10am). We follow the well-trodden Mansi ski trail. (Until now we were walking along the Mansi trail, along which a hunter rode on deer not very long ago.) Yesterday we apparently met his camp for the night, the deer did not go any further, the hunter himself did not follow the notches of the old trail, we are following his trail now . Today was a surprisingly good overnight stay, warm and dry, despite the low temperature (- 18° -24°). Walking today is especially difficult. The trail is not visible, we often lose track of it or go groping our way. Thus we travel 1.5-2 km per hour. We are developing new methods of more productive walking. The first one drops his backpack and walks for 5 minutes, after which he returns, rests for 10-15 minutes, and then catches up with the rest of the group. This is how the non-stop method of laying ski tracks was born. This is especially difficult for the second one, who walks along the track groomed by the first one, with a backpack. We gradually separate from Auspiya, the climb is continuous, but quite smooth. And then the spruce trees ran out, a rare birch forest began to grow. We reached the border of the forest. The wind is western, warm, piercing, the wind speed is similar to the speed of air when an airplane takes off. Nast, bare places. You don’t even have to think about setting up a lobaz. About 4 hours. You need to choose an overnight stay. We descend to the south - into the Auspiya valley. This is apparently the snowiest place. Light wind on snow 1.2-2 m thick. Tired, exhausted, they set about arranging for the night. There is not enough firewood. Weak, raw spruce. The fire was lit on logs; there was no desire to dig a hole. We have dinner right in the tent. Warm. It’s hard to imagine such comfort somewhere on a ridge, with a piercing howl of the wind, hundreds of kilometers from populated areas.”
(from the criminal case materials)
There are no more entries in the general diary; no entries have been found yet for other dates after January 31st in personal diaries group members. The date of the last overnight stay is determined in the known Resolution on the termination of the criminal case, signed by the criminal prosecutor Ivanov as follows:
“One of the cameras preserved a frame (taken last), which depicts the moment of digging up snow to set up a tent. Considering that this frame was shot at a shutter speed of 1/25 sec., with an aperture of 5.6 and a film sensitivity of 65 units. GOST, and also taking into account the frame density, we can assume that the tourists began setting up the tent at about 5 o’clock in the evening on January 1st, 201959. A similar photograph was taken with another camera. After this time, not a single record or photograph was found..."
(from the criminal case materials)
Until now, no one has seen these photographs of the installation of a tent in a criminal case. And this is the biggest mystery of the matter...
Stanislav Ivlev
The continuation can be found in Stanislav Ivlev’s book “The Campaign of the Dyatlov Group. In the Footsteps of the Atomic Project.” The entire book, or separately the full text of the reconstruction, can be ordered on Planet by making your contribution to the publication of the book.
Then the story of the Dyatlov Pass should undoubtedly be familiar to you. In this article we will consider in detail all the facts related to the mysterious death of the Dyatlov group.
Despite the fact that the death of individual tourists and entire tourist groups is not a unique phenomenon (at least 111 people died on ski trips alone from 1975 to 2004), the death of the Dyatlov group continues to attract the attention of researchers, journalists and politicians - even to the point of covering events more than half a century ago on the central TV channels of Russia.
So, before you is the mystery of the Dyatlov Pass.
The Mystery of the Dyatlov Pass
On the border of Komi and the Sverdlovsk region, in the north of the Urals, Mount Kholatchakhl is located. Until 1959, translated from Mansi, its name was translated as “Dead Peak,” but at a later time it began to be called “Mountain of the Dead.”
For unknown reasons, many people died on it under a variety of mystical circumstances. One of the most mysterious and enigmatic tragedies occurred on the night of February 1, 1959.
Dyatlov expedition
On this frosty and clear day, a group of tourists consisting of 10 people set out to conquer Kholatchakhl. Despite the fact that the ski tourists were still students, they already had sufficient experience in climbing mountain peaks.
The leader of the group was Igor Dyatlov.
Igor Dyatlov and two students from the tour group - Zina Kolmogorova and Lyudmila Dubinina An interesting fact is that one of the participants, Yuri Yudin, was forced to return home already at the start of the ascent.
His leg hurt badly, so he simply would not have been physically able to cover a long distance with his comrades. As it turns out later, this sudden illness will save his life.
Dyatlov group
So, the expedition set off with 9 people. With the onset of darkness, on one of the slopes of the mountain, Dyatlov’s group made a pass and set up tents. After that, the guys had dinner and went to bed.
It is worth noting here that according to the criminal case, the tent was installed correctly and with an acceptable degree of inclination. This suggests that no natural factors threatened the lives of the expedition members.
After examining photographs subsequently discovered by the investigative team, it turned out that the tent was set up at approximately 6 p.m.
Tent of the Dyatlov group, partially excavated from the snow And already at night something happened that entailed the terrible death of the entire group, consisting of 9 people.
When it became clear that the expedition was missing, the search began.
Mountain of the Dead
In the third week of the search, pilot Gennady Patrushev noticed the Dyatlov Pass and the dead tourists from the cockpit. An interesting fact is that by some chance the pilot met the guys from Dyatlov’s group on the eve of their fateful ascent.
This acquaintance took place in one of the local hotels. Patrushev knew and understood perfectly well the dangers fraught with the famous “Mountain of the Dead.” That is why he repeatedly dissuaded climbers from climbing it.
Igor Dyatlov's group on the eve of the tragedy He even tried to interest them in other peaks, doing everything possible to make them abandon the planned trip. However, all Gennady’s efforts were in vain, since the tourists’ goal was “Mountain of the Dead.”
When the rescue team arrived at the pass where the tragedy occurred, a terrible picture opened before them. Two people were lying near the entrance to the tent, and another was inside it.
The tent itself was cut from the inside. Apparently the students, driven by some kind of fear, were forced to cut it with a knife and then run away down the mountainside, half naked.
The Mystery of the Pass
The study of the footprints that the dead guys left at the pass deserves special attention. When studying them, it turned out that for some unknown reason the members of Dyatlov’s group ran along the pass in zigzags for some time, but then gathered again in one place.
It seemed as if some supernatural force was preventing them from scattering in different directions from the threatening danger.
Dyatlov Pass No foreign objects or foreign traces were found at the pass. There were also no signs of a hurricane or avalanches.
Traces of Dyatlov's group are lost on the border with the forest.
The investigation also established that two students tried to start a fire near the pass. At the same time, for some reason they were in only their underwear and, most likely, died from frostbite.
1.5 kilometers from the tent and 280 m down the slope, near a tall cedar tree, the bodies of Yuri Doroshenko and Yuri Krivonischenko were discovered Igor Dyatlov himself lay in visible proximity to them. According to experts, he probably tried to crawl to the tent, but he did not have enough strength.
But this is not all the mysteries of the Dyatlov Pass tragedy.
Death of the Dyatlov group
No injuries were found on the bodies of 6 students, but this was not the case with the other three participants. They died as a result of multiple wounds with numerous hemorrhages.
Their heads were pierced through, some of their ribs were broken, and one of the girls had her tongue brutally torn out. An interesting fact is that the investigation team did not find any bruises or even abrasions on the bodies of the victims.
The autopsy results raised even more questions. Cracks were found on the skull of one of the tourists, but the skin remained intact and unharmed, which, in principle, cannot happen when receiving such injuries.
Mysticism
Since the death of Dyatlov’s tour group caused a serious commotion in society, forensic prosecutors arrived at the site of the tragic pass. They managed to discover some more unexplained phenomena.
They noticed burn marks on the trunks of spruce trees growing on the outskirts of the forest, but no sources of ignition were identified. Experts concluded that some kind of heat ray was probably directed at the trees, damaging the spruce in such a mysterious way.
This conclusion was also made because the rest of the trees remained intact, and the snow at their base did not even melt.
As a result detailed analysis of all the events that happened that night at the pass, the following picture emerged. After the tourists covered about 500 m barefoot, they were overtaken and destroyed by some unknown force.
Radiation
During the investigation into the death of Dyatlov and his companions, the internal organs and belongings of the victims were examined for the presence of radioactive substances in them.
Here, too, an inexplicable mystery awaited the investigators. The fact is that experts discovered radioactive substances on the surface of the skin and directly on the things themselves, the appearance of which was impossible to explain.
After all, on the territory Soviet Union no nuclear tests were carried out at that time.
UFO
There was even a version put forward that a UFO was to blame for the death of Dyatlov’s tour group. Perhaps this assumption was due to the fact that during the search operation, the rescuers saw some fireballs flying over their heads. Nobody could explain this phenomenon.
Moreover, on the last day of March 1959, for 20 minutes, local residents observed an eerie picture in the sky. A huge ring of fire moved along it, which then disappeared behind the slope of one of the mountains.
Witnesses also said that a star suddenly appeared from the center of the ring and slowly moved down until it completely disappeared from sight.
This mysterious incident threw the already frightened people into confusion. local residents. People turned to the authorities to involve scientists in carefully studying the mysterious phenomenon and explaining its nature.
Who killed the Dyatlov group
For some time, the investigative team assumed that representatives of the local Mansi people, who had already committed crimes of a similar nature, were guilty of the murder of the skiers.
Police officers detained and questioned many suspects, but in the end they all had to be released due to lack of evidence.
The criminal case into the death of Dyatlov’s tourists at the tragic pass was closed.
Photo of members of the tour group on the monument (Zolotarev’s initials and surname are stamped with errors) The official wording was quite abstract and vague. It claimed that the students died because “a spontaneous force that tourists were unable to overcome”.
The true cause of the death of the tour group on the “Mountain of the Dead” could not be established.
Latest news about the Dyatlov group
Since the tragedy occurred and up to the present day, many different versions of the death of the Dyatlov group have been put forward. There are more than 60 of them in total.
Some believed that the cause of death of tourists was, others suggested that a man-made disaster was to blame.
The report stated that the skin of the dead was orange or purple colors, and on the clothes, as mentioned earlier, background radiation was detected.
The body of Igor Dyatlov with his right hand raised An interesting fact is that absolutely all the dead students from Dyatlov’s group turned out to be gray-haired. This is only possible when people experience extreme strong fear or panic terror.
There is a version that the students died as a result of a rocket crash. This assumption arose due to the fact that a ring belonging to one of the Soviet missiles was found not far from the site of the tragedy.
Radioactive bomb explosion
There is an opinion that Dyatlov’s tour group died due to the “Vacuum Weapon”, which was allegedly tested in 1944. This is largely due to the fact that the skin of the victims had a reddish tint, and internal bleeding was also detected.
Similar signs can be observed due to a vacuum explosion. But even in this case, everything is not so simple.
The fact is that the development of vacuum weapons began only in the late 60s of the last century, as a result of which this version cannot be taken seriously.
Dyatlov group in 1959
On the film of the dead students, investigators found the last frame, causing a lot of heated debate among researchers. It shows strange light spots on a dark background.
Some say that the picture was taken at the moment when the film was removed from the camera. According to another version, this photo was taken by one of the victims at the moment when they felt danger approaching.
The Dyatlov group shortly before their tragic death Currently, there are 9 main versions of the death of members of the Dyatlov expedition:
- avalanche;
- spy version about “controlled delivery”;
- man-made disaster or weapons testing;
- killing of the group by the military;
- exposure to sound;
- conflict between skiers;
- attack by escaped prisoners;
- murder by robbers of Mansi;
- paranormal phenomena.
Unfortunately, none of the nine assumptions can fully explain the cause terrible tragedy which occurred at the Dead Mountains pass in 1959.
And although this terrible story happened more than half a century ago, it is still covered in secrets and mysteries. Perhaps in the future, more advanced equipment will help experts solve the case of the terrible death of Dyatlov’s tour group on the “Mountain of the Dead.”
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