Rashevskaya (Doroshenko) interview 2011

NAVIG: Please introduce yourself.

IND: I am Irina Nikolaevna Rashevskaya. I am the sister of Yuri Doroshenko. I am the only relative of Yuri and I am left alone in this world. A bit about our family. Yuri was born on January 29, 1938. My brother Volodya June 6, 1941. Dad graduated from the Kiev HMI (Hydrometeorological Institute) in 1935. When the Second World War began, our family was sent along with the factory to the Urals in the city of Rezh. I was born in 1945.

NAVIG: Irina Nikolaevna, you lived in Kiev at first?

IND: I was born there…

NAVIG: And Yuri was born in Kiev?

IND: Yuri was born in the Kursk region.

NAVIG: What city?

IND: In the Streletskiy district of the Kursk region on January 29, 1938, he studied secondary school №44 in the city of Rezh Sverdlovsk Region and completed in 1955 with a medal.

NAVIG: Well then we’ll clarify the city later... And parents lived there too?

IND: Yes… First lived in Kiev… then we left for the Kursk region… and here with Yuri and little brother, rode to the Urals in a carriage.

NAVIG: The city of Rezh, is it far from Sverdlovsk?

IND: The city of Rezh is not far. My brother Volodya and I arrived in 2004 at the Yuri's cemetery to visit and go to the town of Rezh. At first we went to the cemetery, cleaned it, then got on a suburban train and drove to the city of Rezh, and then we visited the grave of my father there. We spent the night at the station in Sverdlovsk. My brother went to Kiev, and I went to Ust-Kamenogorsk. We met often with him, every 5 years we went to visit. We did not know anyone in Sverdlovsk. Therefore, they came and the next day... off we go.

NAVIG: Tell about the investigation in 1959? What do you know about this?

IND: In 59, I was still in... seventh grade. Some men came at night. They called in the middle of the night, there were three of them ...

NAVIG: Did you see them?

IND: In military uniform…

NAVIG: They introduced themselves who they are?

IND: It was night... mom opened the door for them... they came in. Then I went out of the room: there was something... One was in some kind of dark, or blue, uniform. And two were very fit, lean. In winter hats... my brother was already studying at this institute in Sverdlovsk.

NAVIG: Did you already hear about the death of the Dyatlov group or you did not know?

IND: They did not say that he was no longer alive. They said that there has been an incident... You have to come with us.

NAVIG: Your family did not know anything yet?

IND: No, no, nothing.

NAVIG: And when did they come... what month?

IND: It was like this - they arrived, they took mother away, with sister Aunt Marusya and immediately flew away. And when they arrived there by plane they attended the funeral right away.

NAVIG: I.e. immediately to the funeral?

IND: Yes, right away to the funeral. Mom said she came and he was already in the coffin. She didn’t recognize him, and everything... everything was... his complexion... she didn’t recognize him at all.

NAVIG: From which city did they take off?

IND: From Aktyubinsk, Kazakhstan…

NAVIG: Ok, but you lived in Rezh?

IND: No. When my father was gone, we went to live in the city of Aktyubinsk with my grandmother. Mom was taken away by plane and sent back by plane. They said take away what you want... but there was nothing to take.

NAVIG: And what did they bring (mom and sister)?

IND: She said something about a sweater that was ruined... where it was... and she said something about a sweatshirt...

NAVIG: Did you see the clothes personally?

IND: I don't remember... I just heard her talking.

NAVIG: You wrote in a letter to me that the color of things was orange?

IND: Yes, and mom said that he was everywhere... that he was all orange.

NAVIG: What were they talking with her about there? Did they say was the cause of death was?

IND: When she arrived, they said that they froze and that’s all. And when my brother was there (NAVIG note: in UPI)… studied for five years… and all these years when he came home in the summer my mother asked him… either bear attacked them, weapon tests failure - something exploded, then a rocket fell - a lot of talk has been in all these years. Mom asked, well, what exactly happened there - go, find out… and my brother said... who will listen to me, a student, when parents, more respected, more competent, went, they were sent back and told not to show up anymore, everything is classified.

NAVIG: And where did they go specifically, do you know?

IND: I don't know… my brother also went hiking and wanted to go there right away (NAVIG note: to Dyatlov Pass), but they weren’t allowed to go there... Then he graduated, he was sent to Krasnoyarsk... then he left for Kiev and mother left.

NAVIG: Did Yuri said something to the family before leaving?

IND: He only wrote letters... they came once a month, but I don't have them... they maybe in Kiev.

NAVIG: Have your family appealed to the official authorities over the next 50 years?

IND: I don't know anything about this. My mom was already an elderly woman and of course did not go anywhere.

NAVIG: And your brother?

IND: He believed 100% that they were testing weapons, he had no doubts.

NAVIG: Did anything survive that returned the investigation in 59? Did he have a camera?

IND: No, there was no camera, that's for sure. There are definitely no belongings in Ust-Kamenogorsk.

NAVIG: And how do you feel about the fact that the case will be reviewed now?

IND: That would be good.

NAVIG: And you yourself what you think about the cause of their death?

IND: I think that there were tests of new weapons and something went south. They were caught at the wrong place at the wrong time. Namely, it is connected with military equipment. No doubt about it. Nothing else. Avalanche is nonsense... The color of their skin confirms it... I just heard what my mother said - orange.

NAVIG: Irina Nikolaevna, thanks for the interview.