New details emerge about the Dyatlov group tragedy: Investigators shared tall tales with the victims' relatives.
On February 2, it has been 66 years since the tragic death of the Dyatlov group tourists at the pass.
In the winter of 1959, nine tourists went missing in the Northern Ural mountains while on an expedition led by Igor Dyatlov. A month later, rescuers found their tent cut open. Within a radius of one and a half kilometers from the tent, five frozen bodies were discovered. The remains of the others were only located in May. Almost all the tourists were found without shoes and partially dressed. Some exhibited fatal injuries. The reasons behind why they fled into the bitter cold, leading to their demise, remain unresolved to this day.
We have been conducting our investigation since 2012. Over this period, numerous witnesses have been interviewed, and dozens of inquiries have been sent to various authorities. We uncovered unique documents, including classified ones. We performed a civil exhumation of Semen Zolotarev's body, buried at the Ivanovsky cemetery in Yekaterinburg, due to doubts about whether he was indeed buried under the name Zolotarev. We also initiated a prosecutor's review in 2019.
We understand that our efforts alone are insufficient to unravel the mystery of the Dyatlov Pass. Only law enforcement agencies can conduct a thorough and professional investigation. Here’s why.
WHAT DO OFFICIALS HAVE TO DO WITH IT?
Upon reviewing the archived criminal case, we noticed that the deaths of the nine individuals were essentially not investigated. The case was closed concerning officials who failed to perform their duties. However, in the absence of other culprits for the tragedy, these officials were punished, albeit not very severely.
3Excerpt from the criminal case. Photo: from the archive.
From the ruling to terminate the case:
“Due to deficiencies in the organization of tourist work and weak supervision, the Sverdlovsk Regional Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union punished in a party order: the director of the Ural Polytechnic Institute Siunov, the secretary of the party bureau Zaostrovskikh, the chairman of the trade union committee Slobodin, the chairman of the city union of voluntary sports societies Kurochkin, and the inspector Ufimtsev. The chairman of the institute's sports club Gordov was removed from his position.
Considering that there is no causal link between the actions of the above-mentioned individuals, who committed deficiencies in organizing sports activities, and the death of the tourists, ...the criminal case regarding the deaths of the tourist group is to be terminated.”
4The tourists travel by truck from the village of Vizhay to the village of Vtoroy Severnuy. Only Yuri Yudin (second from the left) will return home.
It is unclear why a case was opened regarding the deaths of individuals but was closed with penalties for officials. There are no explanations in the case regarding this, aside from one vague phrase: “The cause of death was a force of nature, which the tourists were unable to overcome.”
STRANGE FORCE
It is evident that the investigation did not attempt to establish the so-called “force of nature” that allegedly caused the deaths of the nine tourists. The materials of the case fail to clarify what exactly was referred to as “force of nature.” Even if we assume it pertains to weather conditions, there is not a single meteorological document in the case. Only unverified mentions exist.
5Igor Dyatlov (left) watches as Yuri Yudin (center) bids farewell to Lyuda Dubinina. Yuri left the route due to a sudden leg illness and survived. Photo from the Dyatlov group case materials, posted on the Dyatlov Pass website.
WHERE ARE THE THEORIES?
Clearly, the inexplicable deaths of nine individuals in the mountains is an extraordinary event. It is even stranger that the criminal case contains not a single inquiry about possible incidents. For example:
regarding escapes of prisoners from nearby colonies of “IvdelLag”;
about criminal groups in Ivdel and other nearby areas;
about accidents at industrial enterprises close to the site of the deaths;
about potential technological disasters in Sverdlovsk or Perm regions;
about unsuccessful military equipment tests;
about failed launches of space rockets or the fall of their parts.
Could it be that investigators, knowing the truth, were merely simulating an investigation?
6The last photo of Igor Dyatlov's group. Photo: from the archive.
COMPENSATION ISSUED IN ADVANCE
Recently, we discovered an intriguing document in one of the archives. It is Protocol No. 10 from the executive committee meeting of the Ivdel City Council of Workers' Deputies dated March 10, 1959. The first item on the agenda is the issue of providing monetary assistance to citizen Zolotareva. Immediately, a decision was made to pay 1000 rubles. However, this decision was made in advance—on March 7, 1959.
On March 7, there was still no information about Zolotarev. By that time, only the bodies of five victims had been found—Doroshchenko, Krivonischenko, Dyatlov, Slobodin, and Kolmogorova. The other four were considered missing, and their bodies would only be discovered in May under a two-meter layer of snow in a ravine. Meanwhile, the most sinister rumors circulated, such as the notion that the four, after killing their five companions, had fled to America...
This implies that officials were certain that no one was alive and that compensation needed to be paid to quell the relatives' outrage.
7Document regarding compensation for the mother of Semen Zolotarev for the loss of her son.
Photo: Natalia VARSEGOVA. Go to the KP Photo Bank
UNFORTUNATE ACCIDENT?
In 1959, Evgeny Fedorovich Okishev was the deputy head of the investigative department of the Sverdlovsk region prosecutor's office. He participated in the investigation. Evgeny Fedorovich told us that civil investigators suspected a connection between the tourists' deaths and unsuccessful weapon tests. They then sent an inquiry to the RSFSR prosecutor's office. There was no outright denial of this inquiry. However, a directive came from Moscow soon after to terminate the criminal case. At that time, a version of an unfortunate accident was concocted:
“I began explaining to the relatives that this could have been an unfortunate accident, as I was ordered by that comrade from the General Prosecutor's Office. An unfortunate accident related to natural forces, and no more discussions about any other theories!”.
8Evgeny Okishev examines a copy of the criminal case he handled in 1959.
Photo: Natalia VARSEGOVA. Go to the KP Photo Bank
So what kind of accident was it? Why could they not even then provide a precise definition—hurricane in the mountains, lack of preparation of the group?
Questions also arise regarding the fact that during the exhumation of Semen Zolotarev's body in Yekaterinburg at the Ivanovsky cemetery, forensic expert Sergey Nikitin discovered injuries not listed in the forensic examination report in the criminal case—specifically, a fracture of the right shoulder blade in three places...
EXPERT OPINION
“Is it justified to terminate the case?”
Let’s assume our so-called civil conclusions may not be convincing. However, here is the conclusion from a veteran investigator, forensic expert of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Sergey Shkryabach, from his analysis of the criminal case in 2017:
“The analysis of the materials of the criminal case, as well as the checks of these events conducted by various authorities, gives reason to believe that there is no objective data regarding the involvement of any individuals, institutions, and organizations in the deaths of nine tourists