Interview with Korotaev 2007

KVI: I went to the Archive on Weiner St and could not believe my eyes that the criminal case still existed. The manager says: "Yes, for the sake of curiosity...". Well, that's all. I leafed through, and this one, Lev Ivanov, even a resolution - I issued for 9 people, this is according to the Law - there is not even a Resolution on the appointment of a forensic medical examination. It's good that they didn't rip out the Act. Well, I met Lev twice. He was the head of the investigation department of Tselinograd, and then he was sent to Kustanai as a prosecutor. Naturally, we drank with him. I think: "Drinking, you confess, where are my materials? Sambindalov's testimony, where he wrote about the type of rocket... Anyamov...". And they draw beautifully, they are all illiterate. They have such by nature, they hand over the skins, sign - and that's it. And then they drew them, like, just like this... then we didn’t know rockets... we didn’t see until Gagarin flew ... that "here are theirs", I apologize for the expression, "flames flew"... And that's what I wrote in the Protocol of interrogation. Well, Mansi, what to do?! They signed ... Well, I asked Lev: "Lev Nikitich, where did you put the materials - I'm only interested? It's for history, for relatives and so on." This means that he did not directly confess... He later became the Kustanai regional prosecutor... He says: "If I hadn't destroyed the materials, Kirilenko listened to me, I wouldn't be the regional prosecutor!" I say: "I'm because of you, because of Kirilenko, then he was the First Secretary of the regional committee, then the secretary of the Central Committee, which means he gave the command:" they died under freezing. "He was then God and the king, the First Secretary of the regional committee, he was already preparing for Moscow, supervised administrative bodies ... Because of him, our prosecutor in Sochi, deputy prosecutor Naidenov - he and Suslov fired him - well, I digress ... I say: "Well, after all, what". "But, they gave the command." I say: "So it's up to me." And Kirilenko: "We know. Khrushchev was informed that they all died from freezing."
I say in the regional committee: "Andrey Pavlovich, I myself was present at the autopsy, and they were the first to discover Gants and Vozrozhdenniy, that Kolya Thibeaux-Brignolle has fractures, Zolotaryov's ribs are broken "... I wanted to say:" You are sitting here in the office and say - "we know!". And then he would say: "Korotaev should be expelled from the party!" Prodanov, the First Secretary of the Ivdel City Party Committee tells me. And I'm not a party member. "Well, then we'll transfer him from the prosecutor's office." I say: "Where can you transfer me from Ivdel? Only Mansi live any further. They don't have a prosecutor's office and they don't need one." This is how it went. I was a young specialist, according to the law I could not be fired. Are you recording? Do you need me to repeat anything?

NAVIG: Yes, we are recording...

KVI: Ok then... Well Lev (Ivanov) admitted. We met with him then once and I decided: I will split him! He is thin and drank little. And then I drank more of it (laughs). He then told me: "Eshtokin muzzled me." And Eshtokin was the second secretary of the regional committee. Well, about the materials, he admitted that - yes, there was no need to reflect this version. I say: "But where about the Mansi?". After all, when the tent was discovered, there were cuts. It never occurred to anyone that it was from within.
Yes, to inspect there - snow, cold ... So, who can kill them there and get in from the outside? Only Mansi. Given command. Vasily Ivanovich took notes, I dictated something... Tempalov, prosecutor.

KY: This is not the case...

KVI: There is "Protocol of inspection of the tent and the scene" signed by Tempalov (ed. note - the document is signed by Ivanov not Tempalov). I saw it myself. In fact, it is. But in my opinion, he did not note the Chinese flashlight then. It was not written down that someone, I don’t remember who, saw a flashlight on top of the tent. And I haven't seen many Chinese flashlights back in the days. So who could have one.

KY: Dyatlov had.

KVI: The last, in my opinion, was the Dyatlov who left the tent, as we calculated. What waved, or what, but also fell out. Or the one who peed there near the tent. I clearly remembered that there was urine there ... Well, after that, it means that Mansi began to be taken away. By the way, I gave an interview about this. They began to detain, torture in the full sense. And my office was in the police building, and opposite the bullpen, there was a pre-trial detention cell. And I knew that there was one cell cold. They were undressed. Stripped, led past my windows... it's just in the yard, I have one window of the office looked at the detention center of a battered relative, in my opinion Anyamov, but I can't vouch, it doesn't matter. What's happened? The interrogators admit nothing. I say, the case is in my hands, the investigator decides on the arrests. What are you doing over my head? I’m investigating the tent, and identifying witnesses, I think I was at the 1st Northern, or Vizhay... They immediately bring me a document. A copy of some Stalin order: to all the first secretaries of district committees and regional committees "On the use of physical force on detainees..." I say: "So they are not political!". In general, there were such disputes. Well, I agreed with Vizhay, he was the Chief of Police. I say: "Konstantin Fyodorovich, it smells like a prison here." He says: "So many people have come... The general is over there... so many journalists have come...". And there were a lot of journalists. I met one from "Soviet Russia" ... Klimov, the prosecutor of the region, hit with his fist: "What if there weren't a single journalist here!" And everyone was just blown away. Yarovoy remained, such a nimble journalist, a good guy, let his soul rest in peace. True, they later accused me, I said that he stole photographs from me. In "Sledopyt" ("Pathfinder") his dad defended him: "He couldn't steal!"

Well, then I was 22 years old ... he too ... I pushed him, said that I would not go without witnesses, according to the law it was not allowed. Such a thing without witnesses?! "Nothing, we'll figure it out," one general says there.

I say: "No. This is not a journalist with me, but a witness here ... take at least one." I pushed him (Yarovoy) into the helicopter... Well, I had no time for photographs. I took a picture of something there... well, like, this urine, which I, as an investigator, was interested in, a tent... and gave him all the film. I say: "You will develop." And then, when the case was withdrawn, I was dismissed... I didn't know that it would be like this, such a hype... well, in general, Yarovoy took this film... He died. He and his wife, they say, died? But he published a book. You didn't read it?

KY: Yes, we read it.

KVI: "Category of the highest difficulty" Some things are made up, it's ... it's not his problem ... But I found out that he died ...

And then I was friends with the guys, there was one helicopter, Gladyrev, Gagarin and Strelnik. They are violent guys, gave in. They give alcohol to hell in icing. They will come to the Mansi, pour them a pot in exchange of a sable... And then sable cost a penny. Well, they drank. Even sat down in the garden in Ivdel once, this crew... And then, out of the blue, they were forbidden to go there, to the place, the KGB took a non-disclosure... I don’t remember even now what we signed. I didn’t have time for that then, there was so much work... Now it’s easy to say "this was not done, that was missed". But everything revolved around that Mansi did it.

I was given an order two days in advance: "To appear urgently in Sverdlovsk to report to Deputy Prosecutor Urakov - Deputy Prosecutor of the RSFSR." Klimov called, the prosecutor: "Volodya! You show up in uniform!" I say: "I don't have one." They appointed me the title junior lawyer. "Report immediately to the deputy prosecutor in uniform!" Well, then I got the courage to call the Bytkombinat, the director knew me. .. I say: "Please send me a seamstress, I'm will pay her right away in the office." And so, she came, and the tent was already in my office, delivered. Stretched, I had an office in the police, what used to be the Lenin (propaganda - ed. note) room, a big office, they hang the tent there... I think: "Let me include this aunt Nyura in the attesting witnesses for the tent." We already had the preconditioned minds that the cuts were made from outside (by the perpetrators - ed. note)... She looks and says: "Vladimir Ivanovich, all the cuts are from the inside." And scientists with degrees examined and believed that the cuts were made from the outside. And then one of ours played a role, maybe Lyova (Lev Ivanov - ed. note) himself, he then did not accept the attestation - it seems the experts from Leningrad gave an official conclusion. The Mansi were let go, of course, I freed everyone from custody and the arrest...

Then the case took a completely different turn. So now the question became: "What made them jump out?" Well, I won't discuss it here, everyone insists on his own theory. Some, that the KGB was involved... that the tongue was torn out from one of the last four... I don’t know, they were lying under the slope, there were streams below in May, well, damage... also Vozrozhdenniy, I later read, he objectively gave a conclusion, very well done. The case was troublesome on so many accounts. There were no visible bodily injuries, no one beat them. Because one of them, I don’t remember his last name, had money with him. Two wrist watches, the camera was there... Well, it's clear that something forced them out. And Mansi... traces ... the only thing I can say is that there were no footprints in no way out, the only tracks were the ones down (the slope - ed. note). But the clothes on (Dubinina - ed. note) were puzzling, she was wearing clothes, it seems, from Doroshenko, I don’t remember... I then re-read the reports... Well, two were found hugging, in shorts, I remember.

KY: Under the cedar?

KVI: Yes, they went down And next to it is cut off, with a knife, twigs around. That is, they went to certain death, the guys were brave, it must be emphasized. And when they first got lost - this is my version - they realized that they couldn’t get out anymore and they gave Dubinina (editor’s note) something from their clothes. And themselves ... well, in shorts, even the very fact... it is clear that they were intended to eat in a tent ... footprints (barefoot). But Prodanov insisted, such a leader, his soul rest in peace...Ivan Stepanovich Prodanov, the first secretary of the Ivdel district party committee - he is local, old, 4th degree education, he also imposed Kirilenko on everyone there, he is the host, in my opinion even he... Gordo, was it? Did he die? OK. The command was given to close the case and hold Gordo accountable for criminal liability for negligence - they began to search late and so on. Since I was already dismissed, I ... And he was also invited to the city committee and Prodanov began to assert: "There were two women in the group. This is a sacred place." And the praying place is right there. "I remember", he says, "in 1939 a woman appeared there, either for mushrooms, or with Mansi." And Kurikov, a shaman, married a Russian, she was so young... But the fact is that the corpse (in 1939 - ed. note) was found bound with a vine, and thrown into the lake. Women are not allowed there. Well, there, too, he added fuel to the fire, but they had power.

And I thought, how can I write "hypothermia" if... When the first skull was opened, Gants with Vozrozhdenniy screamed. No one was allowed into the morgue. This Makushina, in Gushchin's book, says that the experts were present... They didn't let anyone in. Committee members surrounded. I myself performed the role of an orderly... Well, it was strange: "Why is there alcohol here?" We dipped into barrels... - work with corpses, we had to pack the intestines for histology, take them with our hands... But here's an interesting case, it was reflected, but Lev (Ivanov) didn't acknowledge it. There was also Pavlov, deputy chairman of the commission of the regional executive committee, then Ermash, he commanded our committee, sports... When I began to look for them, it was an emergency, I found them all drunk there, they were supplied with fish and alcohol for free... Muscovites joined teh party, also for free... They answered me: "This can't be." I say: "Lev Nikitich, come." A delegation came, but characteristically, everyone was afraid. But what is strange is how I later analyzed it... and Tempalov was suddenly given a ticket. Prosecutor of some Ivdel in those years? It was not accepted at all. We were not considered people... And for examination... I said: "Vasiliy Ivanovich, what about me?" "Yes, listen, you also need to be examined. You may not be able to have children, but then my son was born... But the first two years were somehow restless: the devil knows, radiation... then rumors began to spread, I don't remember what was on the jacket... By the way, Yudin came to see me. He was the mayor of a city somewhere here, in Solikamsk... Rumors began to circulate, but we were clueless. And then when Gagarin flew in 1961, they showed a rocket... In Dzerzhinsky's house, prisoners, among them there are many talented ones, they were the first to line up on stage after Gagarin's flight, machine gunners were all around Dzerzhinsky's club... Then I realized: after all, Mansi with their "fireballs".

Well, I compared then. Still, the first party were alive and lost their way, and the second was raised - and death. Ball lightning or something else... for those times... well, I have a lot of other (cases)... But Lyova (Lev Ivanov), in 20 days...! In our country, hooliganism is sometimes investigated for a year, or theft... And he bungled such a thing in 20 days! The resolution was for a overwhelming elemental force. Well, you haven't actually investigated the case. All the materials that were, it’s that Mansi - it’s excluded, the version was fully worked out, the materials were, how and what?

Prisoners. Well, I had already worked with the heads of the colonies and was not only officially, unofficially familiar, I had documents that there was not a single escape. Convicts don't run in winter. And then, each Mansi was trained how to catch an escapee, a bag of flour for him and three packs of small-caliber cartridges, this is for the capture of a convict. In the summer they catch them immediately, if the convicts run away... There was once an interesting escape, they went with live goods... Well, they took a young guy to escape, then cut him into pieces, eat him and moved on... And someone got lost and go to the chum. And there are Mansi, they babble and tie him up, take him immediately to the geologists, they have a radio... Well, they bring them a bag of flour in a week... But this is a digression from the topic.

Then there was a note. I went to Severouralsk, to Tagil. They also saw balls there ... But Lyova (Lev Ivanov) shrugged then and prematurely... (closed the case). But here is an interesting detail that you don’t know about and no one knows: when I worked in brigades, I spent more than 10 years in Moscow, in brigades of prosecutors throughout the Union... Well, there was one thing, connected with something cosmic, but not with research, just in connection with some business of workers. And I had intel, with the KGB officers of Lubyanka, we basically worked there, that a resident of the city of Ivdel, in my opinion, Solovyova, that's what you don't know, she was Tereshkova's understudy. But according to the guys I know, she didn’t cope with something there, she wasn’t mentioned anywhere as an understudy... And I worked in Ivdel, I say, what year is she from? Answer: since 1936. And I think I should know, I just worked there at that time. I think, let me plug it in... When Valentina is there..., then all of them, the first issue, was filmed and silenced. I think, let me meet her after all. And Raushenbach was Koroleva then ... there were rumors, I don’t remember who was there. I cast the rod through Zverev. Yuri Aleksandrovich Zverev was the chief researcher of the Union in the General Prosecutor's Office of the USSR. He says: "So, there are rumors that this rocket flew in the wrong place." But I was already interested in this for the sake of sports interest, since a lot of time had passed, I no longer had anything to do with this, but it was like that. And in my opinion, we had his interview in Uralsky Rabochy. Journalists pestered him ... something like Rauschenbach ... But he, too, had already died. Here is an additional detail.

NAVIG: We have printed questions, we would like to ask you, as well as some that are not on paper. First, how long did you take part in the investigative actions, from the very beginning?

KVI: How the tent was found, no way without an investigator. Was there when the bodies were found.

NAVIG: Did you find them yourself? Did you see them?

KVI: No, Lyova, the forensic specialist, examined them, and I went to meet with Mansi. In total, only three, two and a half days, so I did not remember all the participants. Not before that, everyone was doing their own thing. Stepan Kurikov is a fine fellow. It appeared in the press, someone found it first, but in fact it was found by the shaman Kurikov. They poked with poles, he stumbled upon a corpse, I remember this. I don't know who found the tent. They called us, this is what happened, we need to leave, and the prosecutor and I left.

NAVIG: Have you seen Cedar? The picture shows that there were no branches down.

KVI: I then got the impression that they climbed up, because under one of them lay a bough, right here. And the fact that they tried to kindle is also indisputable. I don’t know about the fire, you won’t ask Lyova anymore.

NAVIG: Was there a deadwood?

KVI: Yes. I read the speeches of one journalist that how could they cut them off, their corpses were supposedly thrown from above, but this is of course nonsense, no offense was said to this journalist. And the late Akselrod often stopped by my office, we discussed the different theories, an avalanche over the tent...

NAVIG: Speaking of avalanches. Did the investigation analyze a possible avalanche?

KVI: I climbed into the tent myself, the entrance was standing. There were backpacks, a flask of alcohol, money, a watch, cereals are scattered, even something like cheese, (loin), but I remember the flyer, it hung in the tent, pinned, "Evening Otorten" on a drawing paper, small in size, like a battle sheet. They were joking at each other. I talked with Akselrod that it was an avalanche that came down on them. I am not sure about the Chinese flashlight because I didn't see it and I don't knwo who did it belong to. There was no doubt that this was an avalanche, Akselrod thought so, that they got scared, cut their way out with a knife. The first ball scared the one who went out to pee, thunder, lightning, they cut, they jumped out who was in what. Their stomach contents were examined, not me, I packed it in jars, but here in Sverdlovsk they examined it. Moisey Abramovich Akselrod was somehow uncertain, citing unconvincing and uninteresting arguments for me. But the avalanche would have flattened the tent and covered the traks.

NAVIG: Did you see the footprints? It is written that they were visible 300-400 meters from the tent and then disappeared.

KVI: I saw the tracks myself. Maybe someone spoke with us, then someone measured, then we went down in one line. I remember when they were already analyzing something, later, when they flew there with Gagarin and Strelnikov, apparently a wave, it was very dark then. They ones that remained alive: Kolmogorova, Doroshenko and Dyatlov. Dyatlov, in my opinion, was the last one, as the captain left the tent. Then we compared the tent in size. In that period and in that situation, you can’t describe every button, now you can ask a thousand questions.

NAVIG: Were footprints found near the cedar?

KVI: The first impression: they got lost and died from freezing, the expert says the inspection data, and the second party was killed, it (the wave) could lift and sweep over the terrain, hit, lift. I was silent for 50 years, then the rocket version, but you can’t prove it.

NAVIG: The reason for the closure of the district for 5 years and the classification of the case for 25 years. What is it based on?

KVI: I was forbidden to go there, and the pilots, they needed fish for the government table there in Lozva, and skins, everyone needed sable. They began to speculate. There was a fur auction in Leningrad, they go there for the alcohol. One of the guards and hunters found something there, not far from the pass, they forbade me to go there, the pilots were young, but there were intelligentsia, we were friends, it’s a pity that they also crashed. I went to inspect the scene, this secrecy, everyone was afraid, except for me, not to let anyone in, even without witnesses, they did not let anyone into the morgue. They were drunk, they came from Lozva, Lev Ivanov, Tempalov - prosecutor and all. The fact of the disappearance of interrogation documents by Kurikov, Anyamov*, Sambindalov. This is food for thought. My resolutions for forensic testing of the nine deceased are missing. In our country, when a bum dies, they will definitely not open him without a decision from the investigator, the prosecutor's office. I had a copy but I gave away a lot.
The behavior of our first leader, Kirilenko, why is he wiggling? Frozen? Since Khrushchev was informed that they were frozen (the first bodies), how to back down?

* If you read further down Korotaev is saying Anyamov killed his wife. The editor is not aware of any Anyamov to have done this so you can have your pick who is Korotaev referring to. We are refusing to pick which Anyamov goes down as a wife murderer. Whois →

NAVIG: In the interviews you talk about the Mansi drawing fireballs. When did this take place? February 2? In the articles this information is always missing.

KVI: He adjusted to the truth what date it was, not only the Mansi said what date it was, it was a coincidence... before the discovery of the corpses in the Tagil Rabochiy, as I was told, there was already an article about balls. I went there one day, but I did not find this journalist, and I did not wait for him because of these fireballs. When they later worked out the version about the involvement of prisoners (by the way, there was not a single escape), someone from the authorities and from the rank and file, maybe one of the group members also saw the fireballs. Mansi don't know shit, it was necessary to write accurately, they drew a ball, a different type of tail, fire flies from the tail. It was impossible to get an exact date from them then.

NAVIG: Can you now draw what Mansi drew?

KVI: No I can not

NAVIG: What about the unnaturally brown color of the corpses. Have you seen it?

KVI: The one who writes... I repeat: not a single one, there was no one. Maybe after, after the autopsy, the corpses were sent in zinc coffins, without the right to autopsy. They were afraid that there would be demonstrations. Yeltsin then took part or not... I do not remember. Even if there were, I would not attach any importance to this, because we did not know, otherwise we would have said it. On the plane, escorts, dirty raincoats. Maybe some kind of chauffeur.

NAVIG: Histological analysis. The acts say: sent for analysis, but this no results came back. Why? Maybe signs of poisoning?

KVI: By this time, I was no longer involved. Describe now ... I repeat, if I had noticed, I would not have attached importance.

NAVIG: Are you interested in the biography of the hikers? Here is Zolotaryov. He has strange tattoos. Who was he, where did he serve? He had tattoos, what do they mean? Maybe something to do with the it?

KVI: Do you think one of them killed? I don't think so. They were not killed, I swear on my life. There were no 100% visible bodily injuries, there weren’t even bruises, well, there were scratches, when they climbed onto the cedar, they scratched their hands. What do we have here, lifted up, crushed.

NAVIG: Why were you suspended? Did you disagree with the official versions?

KVI: They needed a young specialist like me. Because I refused to say they died from freezing. And once the regional committee has decided, try to change it... The journalists asked the question: why didn't you appeal against the decision? At that time, not only the prosecutor of the region, the prosecutor of the republic, even the general himself had no right to turn to Malinovsky, the minister of defense and members of the Politburo. How could I, some jerk with one small star, stand up against... That's the reason for the suspension. He wanted a cursory job in the morgue... It's good that they got into drinking, and the three of us were there, an autopsy. This fact is undoubtedly preserved in the case. There is an autopsy in the case.

NAVIG: The Gulag. Registration of tourists when passing through the zone. In the UPI book it says they went to Vizhay and registered. Is this true or not?

KVI: (no answer)

KVI: It was interesting, they came from the Krasnodar Territory, maybe Kolya Thibeaux-Brignolle's mother. No, Zolotaryov's mother. She came in rubber dung boots.

NAVIG: Why did Ivanov did he take the radiometer there if he didn't know there was radiation?

KVI: Regarding the radiation, I would have asked him this question, but then they didn’t let me into the case, I didn’t know that Lyova was walking around with some kind of apparatus, and I couldn’t ask. And if he knew, then this is also suggestive.

NAVIG: Films of the Dyatlov group, they were in the camera, they were seized, recorded? Who developed them? Yudin and Yarovoy? Were non-specialists allowed to develop?

KVI: I don't know about Yarovoy. He developed my film, I told him "Yura, you will develop it and send it to me".

Inspection of the tent found Feb 26. Photo Feb 28. Crouching Koptelov.

NAVIG: The place and time of this photo. Everyone appeals to this picture, supposedly, this is the last place to set up a tent, but I question this.

KVI: Me too.

NAVIG: If there was no examination, you can say anything. Did you remove the films from the cameras of the Dyatlov group?

KVI: There was no such examination. I didn't take out the films. All of them were seized to be examined later, not here, and then they were taken to Sverdlovsk. And here the question is not for me in relation to films. My opinion is that Lev Ivanov has his own laboratory, he is a forensic specialist in the region, there are a lot of laboratory assistants and, of course, they got to him, and it’s hard to say what is there, high-quality or not high-quality.

NAVIG: Do you think this is not the last photo? (I meant the last place to set up the tent)

KVI: I do.

NAVIG: In the photo, this is supposedly how the tent was found, maybe you made it?

Dyatlov group tent in Ivdel

KVI: This is my office! These cabinets, this is Lenin room (Lenkomnata). Yes, it's in my office. Maybe they looked, the cuts were on the way out.

NAVIG: Why is the side of the tent so torn in the picture? There are missing pieces of fabric.

KVI: Maybe they looked from the wrong side, for example, from the closet in the picture. The cuts were on the way out.

NAVIG: Do you remember the location of the tent?

KVI: No! Snow, slope, flat. They argue that the committee members framed, cut out, dropped the corpses from the air, liquidation. I don't even want to insult journalists.

NAVIG: Did you see the labaz?

KVI: No, I didn't go there, but I know that there was a labaz there. The labaz was photographed, in my opinion, this the credit goes to Yarovoy, he crawled there, meticulous. The labaz stood on poles.

NAVIG: Have you seen the photo?

KVI: Yes.

Dyatlov group labaz, photo Mar 2, 1959

Dyatlov group labaz, photo Mar 2, 1959

NAVIG: Was it laborious? What did it look like?

KVI: It stood up raised on sticks, a platform, there were winds. The labaz was there. He was discovered by witnesses, the Mansi would have eaten everything. The Mansi did need a labaz, and there was stew.

Mansi labaz near Auspiya, photo Jan 29, 1959, Krivonischenko's camera film №1 frame 16

АК: I.e. it was raised on poles and it was not a suspended tied bag?

KVI: No.

NAVIG: Akselrod says that they didn’t let him go somewhere, they controlled him.

KVI: They did not control me, did not limit me, did not give any instructions. We went there, the general was wearing stripes... There was no pressure on me from the KGB. They were doing the less people know, the better. But maybe they (KGB) played hand in hand with the regional prosecutor Nikolay Ivanovich Klinov. The hotel was full of journalists. He is with me: if only something will be published - everything! Let's put it on trial! Everyone was brave, even transport was provided, sent. And from the point of view of the KGB, do not think that I am afraid of something, I have already fought off, passed.

KY: So he had to?

KVI: Yes. He was forced to.

NAVIG: Was he forced to tell a lie that they died from exposure? He didn't write "accidentally"...

KVI: He should not have written "from force majeure". He also had to have an act of imprisonment. He wouldn't be able to.

NAVIG: Can this, at the present level, serve as a reason for a review of the case, or for the opening of a new criminal case? After all, if it was a crime, and the investigation was curtailed at the preliminary investigation stage, then in essence there was no investigation as such, then what can we do now?

KVI: I was then twenty years old, but everyone else now, it seems to me, has already died...
That's what I remember now. It so happened that Anyamov was passing through my office and Sambindalov, Kurikov. Anyamov* killed his wife for cheating. If you're wondering, they have such a custom. If the brother came to visit, and they are neighbors, there are 50 km away, they are very close neighbors, the brother should sleep with his wife. But if the guest came in the absence of the host, and the host found him, then he should be punished. And the one who was a witness with me (in the case of the Dyatlov group), tied his wife to a pine tree, made incisions on her legs, mosquitoes - in general, she died. It happened because he came home, and there his brother was sitting, drinking tea with his wife... This happened a few years after the death of the hikers. Then I met with them on a new case. They spoke Russian well. I asked about the rocket: "Remember?" "Yes, I remember," - And said it again.
Stepan Kurikov came. We were friends with him. He was a member of the regional council. And the chief physician Elizaveta Mihaylovna Proshina was also a deputy of the regional council. And then the steam locomotive went about 2 days to Sverdlovsk. And Kurikov puts on skis and takes off from Ivdel, sprints through the whole taiga and arrives before she arrived by train. He comes to the regional executive committee dirty, lousy, smelly, but - nationality, a great man, a shaman, everything is in front of him... Stepan. We also revisited the case. But I think that all those Mansi have long since died.
How about bringing the case to court? So we now have zero justice. The police chief is arrested. He is tried, acquitted, released from custody. Hundreds of such cases, no justice.

KVI: ... The case has been destroyed. It was to be destroyed. This is the journalist Bogomolov... they called, they came to the party activists, and one of the employees there told me, for the sake of interest, call. We called the party activists, we come, he flips through the window, he is interested. And it was more interesting for me to read this Case after so many years. Well, in my opinion, just declassified. Why does she (the prosecutor's office) not give the case? On the contrary, I know for sure that Deputy Prosecutor Tuflyakov, in his office, he gave the case to journalist Gushchin. I mean, it's just a whim. They can destroy the supervisory proceedings. At the criminal case supervisory proceedings are started, there are pieces of paper that have no procedural significance. We had an old lady, archive, Rogova, she kept the File. She even seems to have been ordered to keep the Case. But how did she give it away? She did well, although she did not have the right to hand over the party archive. But this is also interesting, why the Case was not kept in the Prosecutor's Office, but went there? I hadn't thought about these before ... it didn't matter to me, it was important that they found it. This is also a fact that you cannot overlook.

NAVIG: Through State Duma deputy Karelin, I sent a request, and this is what the prosecutor's office replied: It was established that 47 years ago, the prosecutor of the city of Ivdel initiated a criminal case on the fact of the death of the hikers, during the investigation of which the circumstances of the incident were verified, however, no evidence of a foul play and intentional causing of their death was found. After studying the case, no procedural grounds for resuming the preliminary investigation have been identified."

KVI: Who signed it?

NAVIG: Adviser of Justice Potapov.

KVI: I do not believe them, from young age. Here, in one of the AIFA articles, I wrote there ardently that it was necessary to reopen the case, I am also a supporter. But what am I now - a pensioner ...

NAVIG: Well, so far the questions have been exhausted. On behalf of the Investigation Center, we thank you for the information provided. I hope for a second meeting when there will be more questions. Thank you.