Sogrin S.N.: "I heard about it, but I didn't see it."

The questions for Sergey Nikolaevich Sogrin were collected on the Khibiny forum in the summer of 2012 and passed on to him through third parties. I personally had already forgotten about them, it was so long ago, and I left Khibiny.

And then the moment came: I was informed by the Foundation that the questions had finally been answered! I present them to all readers.

1. Is it true that Sergey Sogrin is the initiator of the construction of a tourist complex with all the infrastructure on the Dyatlov Pass?

Sogrin S.N.: First time I hear about this. Why would I do such a thing? Who would invest money in a completely unprofitable and hopeless business.

2. Will Sergey Nikolaevich be able to describe Semyon Zolotaryov? Did he see metal crowns when Semyon smiled? Did he noticed tattoos on his hands near the thumb?

Sogrin S.N.: A stupid question. I don't intend to answer. Everything is known about Zolotaryov, he was a war veteran, a recipient of orders, graduated from the institute in Minsk, etc.

3. Did hikers wear sunglasses on winter hikes at that time? Was this common, or was it considered dandyism?

Sogrin S.N.: The authors, asking this question, do not know that such glasses were not so easy to find back then. "Dandyism" didn't even exist back then. People were much more modest and poor.

4. Can Sergey Nikolaevich tell about the footprints he saw on the slope. How did they go down, at a distance from each other, as we see in the photo, or close to each other? What was the distance between pairs of footprints, a meter, more than a meter, or less? How many pairs were there, a line or a narrow chain, did the footprints go parallel, or did people walk differently, diverge, then converge? Why did he decide that the footprints were left by running people?

Sogrin S.N.: A question on the matter. But why is this necessary? Everything has already been said about this from the words of eyewitnesses. The footprints indicate that the escape was panicky, without shoes, and that's enough.

5. Tell us more about the fireball that you saw there during the search. What did it look like, what feelings did you experience, how long did the visual contact last? Where did the ball disappear to? Was there an airplane near it?

Sogrin S.N.: See my article in the "Ural Stalker" and the afterword to Evgeniy Buyanov's book.

6. When your group was dropped off at Otorten, did you see or find a note left by one of the tour groups? What was written there?

Sogrin S.N.: On Otorten there was an standard note from two years ago by a group of hikers who had been on the summit in the summer.

7. Have you heard about the combat leaflet Evening Otorten? Have you seen it?

Sogrin S.N.: I know about it, but I didn't see it.

8. Did you see the group's diaries in the tent? How many were there?

Sogrin S.N.: No.

9. In what year did your parents move to the USSR? Were there any difficulties in adapting to the new conditions? Was your father arrested?

Sogrin S.N.: What does it have to do with Dyatlov? Read the "Ural Pathfinder' - November, December'11 and January'12.

10. When you were on the slope, why do you think they took out the bodies of Dyatlov, Kolmogorova and Doroshenko first? And only then the next day did they take out Krivonischenko's body? Why did Krivonischenko lie under the cedar for another day, while the other bodies were taken out earlier? Why do you think Doroshenko and Krivonischenko were separated, since they were found together?

Sogrin S.N.: By asking this question, it is clear that the authors have no idea what kind of effort is required to transport them up a snowy slope and through bushes for more than 2 km, and how many people are needed for this grueling work.

11. Why did it seem to you that there were more people at the cedar than the two people who were found there?

Sogrin S.N.: I didn't imagine anything. The inspection of the site and the facts spoke for it.

12. Do you remember when you found the labaz, before Krivonischenko's body was removed, or after. If after, then how many days after? Did you see this labaz? If so, please describe what it all looked like?

Sogrin S.N.: I did not participate in the search for the labaz, I was not there, I was looking for people, but I knew about it.

13. During the search, did you find anything hanging from trees, anything - supplies, bags?

Sogrin S.N.: What an absurd question? Where would they come from in this wilderness. There was nothing like that. And what is this desire to find something so sensational.

14. Who took pictures during the investigation. Did you notice? Investigator Ivanov probably took pictures, but who else?

Sogrin S.N.: Everyone who had a camera took pictures. But in those days, they rarely had them. It is possible that Lev Ivanov asked for the films. Then in the prosecutor's office in their laboratory at Ivanov's request I printed them for him, I especially remember the shots by the cedar with Krivonischenko and Doroshenko.

15. When Rustem Slobodin was found, were you present when he was found?

Sogrin S.N.: No.

16. What do you remember most, what stuck in your memory, when you saw the bodies?

Sogrin S.N.: The question is not entirely tactful. Grief. The realization of the tragedy that had happened and what they had to endure. I have already answered this question. Do you want to hear about the mutilated yellow corpses, etc.? We have already been through this.

17. Did you see Zina's body? Was her face covered in blood, badly beaten?

Sogrin S.N.: I saw it under the rock and when loading it into the helicopter. I understand what is hidden in the question but all I saw is an ordinary frozen body. I had to dig out the same ones later from avalanches. I didn't see any blood, maybe it was on the snow where she was found. I later went to the place where Zina was found, but I didn't notice anything then, most likely the searchers trampled all traces. There could have been blood, this happens from intensive movement upwards, against the wind, nosebleeds start from the cold, especially in those who have weak blood vessels close to the surface. This happened on our hikes too. Maybe even from the throat from severe drying out from rapid breathing. Then in Ivdel, in the hotel, I had a conversation with the pathologist who autopsied Zina. He didn't talk about any injuries, neither external nor internal, but on the contrary, he emphasized how healthy she was. He couldn't calmly express his regret and admiration, she lay there like a living, healthy, beautiful girl, she should have lived, loved, given birth to children. The sincerity of his words could be believed, because this was the initial stage, when everyone was still talking openly, sharing their impressions, conclusions in search of the truth. What appeared in the conclusions later, I don't know. Again new speculations "beaten face". Where does all this come from? Who needs it.

18. Did you get the impression, when the bodies were found, that there was a foul play? What did they say during the search at that time, was it murder or a natural disaster?

Sogrin S.N.: Complete absurdity. There was no crime, and this was established in the first days of the search. All these fabrications are journalistic techniques in search of sensations and reader interest. I won't even discuss the avalanche version - it's complete nonsense. Everything was banal, simple: they got scared, ran away, froze. What have they spun over the years: special forces, KGB, hunters, poachers, the military, aliens and all sorts of other nonsense. The searchers had one unanimous version back then. It was man-made, that's what they say now, but back then there was no such word, so they said missile.

19. Did you see the winding, the same one that was found near the cedar, that Slobtsov saw?

Sogrin S.N.: I didn't see it. Anything could have been there, right down to bottles of "fire water" left by previous visitors, since the place is noticeable, convenient for a bivouac, and the last one where there is firewood, further on there is tundra and bare mountains. According to Yakimenko, this was most likely a campsite of Mansi hunters, where they may have been shortly before the Dyatlov group.

20. What is your personal version of what happened? Are there any doubts or facts that you personally saw and cannot explain?

Sogrin S.N.: For me, everything has been completely clear since 1959, when I was there and saw everything with my own eyes. And there were no doubts and there are none today. The only unresolved question remained what kind of force of influence was it that made them run even naked. For more than fifty years they could not answer this question. Complete silence. And now a breakthrough in solving the mystery. Kuntsevich drew attention to a frame on the Dyatlov group's film, the last one, which had previously been ignored and was considered a defect in the development of the film. But after studying it, it turned out that this was an intentional frame. A night shot where the fiery object and smoke behind it are clearly visible. Now everything falls into place. And no more documents are required. They simply do not exist and never will.

21. Was it considered normal at that time to walk an unfamiliar route without binoculars?

Sogrin S.N.: Why is it needed? It was in Soviet times that pioneers were shown on hikes with binoculars. It's extra weight. If someone had one and wanted to take it, take it and carry it. We didn't carry any, and everything that was needed was visible anyway.

22. Did someone monitor the sufficiency of technical equipment, or was this issue resolved by the leader and within the group itself?

Sogrin S.N.: No, that was not the case. They only checked the documents for the declared route, and even then not always at first. The main thing is the experience of the group, the leader, so that the difficulty of the route corresponds. The guys themselves understood all the responsibility if there was not enough food, poor equipment. And in those years it was really more than poor. From the perspective of today, I am surprised myself. how did we walk with such equipment and uniforms, we did a lot, we sewed ourselves.

23. Any personal memories of the guys from the Dyatlov group?

Sogrin S.N.: This is a lot and a separate topic that the Dyatlov Foundation should deal with after establishing the cause of the accident. It's time to stop trying to figure out whether Zolotaryov had gold crowns, and what kind of rag was found near the cedar tree, and who hit Kolmogorova in the face, and other nonsense. What were they like? You can judge by one episode. When we were getting ready for our more difficult and longer hike through the Subpolar Urals in the same '59, we invited Zina Kolmogorova to participate in it. This says a lot. But she decided not to betray her group.