Text form video (in 2 parts, English, Russian, English, Russian):
Conflict in the ravine and a fractured skull
Point of No Return In the Forest at the Foot of Mount Kholat Syakhl Irena Konovets-Poplavska (2024-25)
[–] We are moving on to the key part of our research. This is an attempt to reconstruct the final hours and minutes of the lives of the four who went into the forest to collect firewood: Zolotaryov, Thibeaux-Brignolle, Dubinina, and Kolevatov. And starting with this episode, we enter a zone of documentary darkness. The diaries are finished. The last line was written on the evening of January 31st. There are no witnesses. There is not a single living eyewitness to the events of that evening. We have no one to verify the details with, no one to clarify the sequence of events.
But instead, we will rely on the cold materials of the criminal case, crime scene inspection reports, medical records, photographs of the bodies, and the logic of human behavior. In principle, this is quite a lot. If we put all these elements together correctly, we get a general picture of what happened.
From this point on, the reconstruction of what happened in the forest at the foot of Mount Kholod-Syakhl begins. We will, inch by inch, separate fact from legend, medical evidence from conjecture, reality from newspaper fiction.
On February 1, 1959, at approximately 3:30 PM, Zolotaryov, Thibeaux-Brignolle, Dubinina, and Kolevatov descended into the forest and encountered strangers there. We cannot know what dialogue took place between them, but there aren't many options. It was a typical conversation between locals, whom we will call strangers, and tourists who had entered their territory. And we have something to rely on. This is Tiunov's version of the two girls. But we know Lyuda was there without Zina, so we'll change all verbal references to her alone.
Tyunov believes that after some greetings, one of the more drunken hunters made a crude joke, something like, "Oh, such a gorgeous girl, and why aren't you with us? Just ditch your puny city boys and move into our tent! We'll keep you so warm!"
Or Lyuda could very well have seen the hunters' prey—a doe or a young fawn—to which she responded with a spontaneous, girlish reaction: "Why did you kill such a small deer? When we return to Vizhay, we'll definitely tell the local authorities all about you!"
That's Tiunov's opinion. In the end, the tipsy hunters, no longer shying away from using unprintable language, clearly explained to the impudent girl her true place—and what she should do with her own opinion. Of course, the male part of the group didn't expect such a turn of events, and the guys stood up for their friend, which only further escalated the situation. It's possible that in the heat of the moment, one of the guys even thoughtlessly called the hunters drunken idiots.
This was a completely ordinary skirmish between several drunk people and sober people. A similar conflict could take place anywhere: on a city street, on public transport, or on the shore of a picturesque natural lake. The only difference in this case was that it took place in the remote taiga. The drunk people were well armed, while the sober guys were completely unarmed. From this fairly plausible scene, we will extract five triggers. The first trigger is sexual, meaning offensive humor directed at Lyuda. Degrading jokes about sex almost guaranteed aggression from the guys around her. Lyuda was certainly an irritant, like any outsider from the city in that harsh region. Not a prisoner, not a settler, not a worker.
The very fact that strangers could say something like, "We'll take your girl with us," is a blow to the pride of three men. And there's another thing to consider. In the wild taiga, there are no witnesses, so the list of permitted actions expands. So this trigger is very plausible. I'd even say 100% spot on. The guys would definitely react to it. And on top of that, we add the behavior of the girl with the three guys, who felt very confident under their protection and could easily have said too much.
The second trigger is the threat of publicity. This is the second strong point. The phrase "We'll tell someone in charge" sounds like something from Sverdlovsk in our case. Lyuda could have added that her dad is a big boss there, in an attempt to stop the aggression. Movies often show us moments like this, where someone has exposed a criminal and is dialing a phone number in front of him. The criminal asks, "Where are you calling?" and hears the innocent answer, "The police." And that's it! That someone will never call anyone again.
That's what happened here too. To outsiders, mentioning some distant boss sounds funny, but they heard the hint and remembered. That's the point!
So far, everything is going harmlessly. The outsiders counter with a sneer, like, "Who's your dad against us? We decide everything here!"
The third trigger is disdain. Tiunov understands male psychology correctly. When three athletic, successful city kids are met by some rather sober local hunters, competition ensues, and the strangers are tempted to put the tourists in their place. Phrases like "brats, smartasses, we're the boss here" are very plausible. This is enough to start a scuffle and a fight.
The fourth trigger of alcohol is decisive. The strangers have already had a few drinks. Alcohol increases aggression and, most importantly, erases the fear of consequences. Without alcohol, this doesn't explode. With alcohol, one word is enough.
And the fifth trigger is humiliation in front of a girl. This is a universal mechanism. The guys don't want to look weak in front of girls. When they return to the tent, they start talking about the conflict, and Lyuda will tell them who behaved how, who backed down, and who boldly rushed to her defense. When guys are humiliated in front of a girl, a brawl is inevitable. It doesn't matter whether it's the taiga, the north, Soviet times, students, or locals. It's a law of biology. So we all agree with Tiunov that the conflict was mundane. These are normal human emotions: alcohol, hurt feelings, hurtful words.
The girl's story is central here. I'll add one point that Tiunov doesn't take into account, but we know about it. There's a 99% chance that at least one of the outsiders had already heard about the Dyatlov group. Many sites there were equipped with radios, but even without them, news spread quickly throughout the area. In the taiga, it's like in a village. There's little news, and every movement, every new arrival, was recounted.
The Dyatlov group arrived in the Ivdel district very noisily. Singing, laughter, they reported their route to everyone. Cheerful girls, singers, tourist romance, books in backpacks, toys, conversations about nature and culture. But the locals saw it differently. To them, these children of civilization looked like carefree city chatterboxes who understood nothing about real life, about cold and hunger, about survival. It seemed like a show of disrespect for those harsh places. And one of the outsiders might say:
"And these are the same ones who started the songs and dances at Section 41! They had such a cheerful Zina there. But it seems you're not Zina."
And you have to understand that over the years of Ivdallag's existence, about 30,000 people died there. It's a dry number, but behind it lies cold, hunger, beatings, disease, logging, exhaustion, and a slow death without a name or grave...
These were nervous, tired people, with a shattered psyche. Life was on edge, alcohol was at hand, responsibility and work were hanging around everyone's neck... And here tourists come singing about life, playing snowballs, promoting tourism. But these delights of tourism have already gotten to them. People here survive as best they can, and you give them a horse, a ride, food, and warmth.
We took the outsiders' perspective to understand how they looked at those approaching them. Carefree tourists. They're all so cheerful, a girl is singing a song with them. Everything that might have been pent up for years flashes in my head. Envy, anger, irritation.
And when they met, a difficult and unnecessary conversation began. At first, general questions began: What are you doing here? Who is this girl? Who are you? What are you doing hanging around here? You're so annoying! It's a shame. Come on, come join us, real men!
Then the dirty innuendo began. Anyone can tell a similar story from their own life. But the tourists grew up in a completely different world. University, harmless jokes, Soviet ideology, romance... And next to them was another world of earth, snow, barbed wire, and camp towers. This is the real, unadorned side of Soviet reality. A world where people disappeared without explanation, where power meant everything, human life was worthless, and silence was the only form survival. In this world, people didn't argue, they were broken. They weren't proved, they were punished. And no correct words, no education, no rightness mattered against a fist or an order.
Tourists didn't know this world, but strangers, that is, locals, were immersed in it. And the tragedy became inevitable not because anyone was bad, but because these two worlds spoke different languages and had no common rules. And when Dubinina was grabbed by the arm or the waist during an altercation, the situation reached a boiling point.
Why did Lyuda suffer the most injuries? Because her character played a role.
Yudin described her this way: Lyuda Dubinina had a strict upbringing. She was a principled girl. She was completely for Soviet power. Her parents worked as big bosses somewhere, in the economic council. And she was raised that way; she was a good Pioneer, a Komsomol member.
And let's imagine A tense moment. Lyuda says, "My father's in the economic council. I'll tell him everything! You'll lose your jobs, you'll go to jail!"
This provokes a burst of laughter among the outsiders, but at the same time, it sounds like a slap in the face. It's already an insult to local authority.
And seeing that her father's position in the economic council doesn't faze anyone, Lyuda might add, "And Yura Krivonischenko's father is actually a major general!"
By trying to save herself, this fearless Soviet girl from a well-off family only added fuel to the fire. Someone might have even stopped her: "Shut up already!" Do you remember what Blinov said about her? Lyuda Dubinina wasn't exactly a bright girl, just a simple-minded and naive girl.
There was no one here to defuse the tension.
I remember I was a high school student, and I was walking home late one evening with a girl I barely knew. A gang of guys stopped us on the street, and they started pestering us. They made all sorts of obscene jokes.
I stood there, horrified, speechless, not knowing what to say. Then the leader of those guys asked, "Why are you girls so sad?" "What, you don't like me?" And then my barely known friend replies with a charming smile: "Oh, what are you saying! How could you not like me?"
The tension eased, the boys laughed, left us alone, and went their separate ways. You understand how important it is to calm the brewing conflict in such situations. And apparently, that's what Sasha Kolevatov was trying to do. He was a completely different person, judging from my memories. He was confident, responsible, reasonable, and tried to smooth things over, calming both the strangers and his own. And how could you calm the strangers down in that situation? The only way was to say:
"Sorry, we understand everything. We're going back to the tent now, packing up, and leaving the route for home. We have no complaints against you. You'll never hear from us again!"
If not, then Kolevatov tried to calm the strangers down with something similar. But it's clear that his mission as a peacemaker has completely failed.
The tent, the ravine, and Yudin.
The rest of the guys in Dyatlov's group were strong, resilient, athletic, but psychologically inexperienced. They reacted emotionally and didn't appreciate the threat. They should have run to the tent, packed up, and left this area. And who in Dyatlov's group would have been able to behave in a way that would have prevented a conflict or prevented it from escalating?
Let's imagine that they all had felt boots, and Dyatlov sent four more men down to get firewood, who could have smoothed things over with the strangers. We immediately remove the girls. That's a trigger, no doubt. Without them, the risk of conflict decreases by 90%. And if the four of them I'm about to name had gone for firewood, everything would have been peaceful.
1) Dyatlov himself. He was the one who pushed the pressure within his own group, but with outsiders he was reserved and didn't provoke. Especially since Dyatlov stuttered.
2) Slobodin. Intelligent, well-mannered, and non-confrontational. He certainly wouldn't have escalated the situation here; he could have calmed the atmosphere.
3) Krivonischenko, cheerful and artistic. He could relieve tension with a joke, and that's the best way to defuse a situation.
And fourth was Kolevatov, unrivaled in this group, collected, calm, and self-possessed. He didn't panic; he could speak evenly, without emotion. In this group, when asked, "What are you hanging around here for?" He would have replied:
"Well, here we are, hanging around! We're not happy about this hike ourselves. The tourism section sent us here. Either go on a hike, or get out of the institute! Do you think life is easy for us because we're students? Look at how we're dressed, like prisoners. We're afraid to walk through the taiga, lest the Mansi shoot us like runaways. They already mistook us for them once, took us to jail – and that's it!"
The strangers laughed and even sympathized with the tourists. But here, they couldn't get along. After an argument, someone was the first to get violent.
Now I'll illustrate all of the above with a real scene. Tourist Boris Gudkov, who was on Otorten. In 1956, his group found itself in a similar situation, and maybe even worse.
Towards the end of the hike, our group reached one of the camps, of which there were many in these parts at the time. For the night, we were given a place in We were in an empty barracks for unaccompanied prisoners, and in the morning they promised to send us by car to Kizil, since the presence of strangers greatly worried the camp authorities.
In the morning, a truck indeed arrived. It ran not on gasoline, but on wooden logs, and therefore had a tall, black column on each side of the cab, in which a roaring fire was burning. A heated argument broke out between the truck driver and his superior. Unfortunately, we realized its meaning too late. The driver insisted on being allowed to stay the night in Kizil, while the superiors demanded that he return for evening roll call.
Permission was not forthcoming. As soon as we were settled in the back, the truck took off, and a guard with a mouth full of gold teeth rushed after us, desperately brandishing a pistol. He jumped onto the running board.
For some reason, the truck sped off not along the road to town, but turned into We drove through the forest and soon stopped in a gloomy clearing surrounded by tall pine trees. A huge fire burned in the center, and around it, the dark figures of prisoners loomed, casting quite unambiguous glances at our two suddenly silent girls. One of them was the daughter of film director Vasiliev and actress Myasnikova, who played Anka the Machine Gunner in Chapayev.
People on opposite sides of prison bars are kindred spirits, living in the same world. The guard was clearly from that world and spoke the same language as the prisoners, but he still represented the law, and they were clearly afraid of him.
Under his supervision, pine logs were loaded into the truck, and we finally reached the road leading to town. The guard left us there, but we didn't go far, getting stuck at the first small but steep climb.
The truck ran almost to the top of the climb, but then rolled back helplessly. There were many attempts to overcome the obstacle. We all pushed the truck, putting spruce branches under the wheels. But each time, almost at the very top, the engine suddenly died, and the truck rolled back, threatening to crush the guys pushing it.
Then we finally realized that the problem wasn't the steepness of the climb or a malfunction of the truck. The driver had no intention of making this trip on unfavorable terms. The short northern day had ended, leaving us with no choice but to put on our skis and attempt to cover the remaining 25 km to the town on foot.
At first, we moved fairly quickly along the well-trodden road, but gradually fatigue began to take its toll, and our legs began to give way. We took off our skis and simply dragged them along on a rope. In the complete darkness, we spotted a strange little shack at the edge of the road, where they let us in for a moment to warm up.
The warmth immediately soothed the exhausted boys; our eyes closed involuntarily, and we would have gladly stayed there until morning, despite the suspicious furnishings of this house, which resembled a den of robbers.
Soon, we were practically forced back into the cold, and we trudged on, falling asleep as we walked. End of quote.
I read this to remind you once again of the atmosphere in which the tourists met the strangers. We'll highlight two key phrases from Gudkov's story. The first phrase: The blackened figures of the prisoners, who were casting quite unambiguous glances at our two suddenly silent girls. And the second phrase: It's true what they say, people on both sides of prison bars are kindred spirits, living in the same world. And as we can see, Gudkov's group in the same camp zone was greeted unfriendly by the locals, although they behaved politely and quietly, understanding the threat. But the girls in those places were definitely an irritant.
Website proza.ru. Alla Alekseev, "Lyuda Dubinina Killed Everyone." It's an ironic title, but there's something to it... Now about Thibeaux and Zolotaryov, how they might have behaved in that situation.
Yudin says: Kolya Thibeaux was very attentive, a good friend to everyone. If you go hiking with him, like we did in Altai, he'll definitely help you. It's amazing. For example, I was hiking, and I also had sciatica or something. But he's always attentive, he'll help you lift your backpack, put it on. That's the kind of person he was.
Thibeaux probably threw himself into the breach to protect Lyuda.
Zolotaryov was a chameleon, a dangerous joker in negotiations. He could be polite, but at some point he could escalate. According to Varsegova, he was unbalanced. And you can trust her. She's studied Zolotaryov inside and out in the course of her research. She was told that Zolotaryov received commendations mixed with reprimands for his work. He had such an uneven personality.
But, as we understand it, no one attacked the four of them instantly. At first, it was a verbal altercation that didn't even escalate into a fight; as the guys say, they just shoved each other. And it could have all ended with a minor skirmish. No one would have seriously dragged Lyuda anywhere, of course. But suddenly the situation spiraled out of control, because the one they accidentally killed was Thibeaux, judging by the injuries.
And now we turn to the criminal case materials. We read in Boris Vozrozhdenny's report: Thibeaux-Brinbol suffered an extensive, compressed, multi-fragmentary fracture of the cranial vault and base of the skull—inherent during his lifetime—followed by a fall, throw, and bruise. The injuries to soft tissue, the head area, and the skin of the extremities are postmortem. Thibeaux-Brignolle's death was violent. End of quote.
The wording is a bit clumsy, but experts will sort it out later. What does this add to our reconstruction? Thibeaux was physically strong, but so kind that he came to everyone's aid. And the first possibility is that at some point he suddenly moves toward Lyuda. They grab him, he tries to break free, steps aside, or responds with force.
In response, the attacker also uses excessive force to break his resistance. Look, on May 28, 1959, Vozrozhdenny is being questioned by investigator Ivanov. This is the very day Ivanov closed the case. Ivanov poses questions in a way that confirms his cause of death for the tourists – an act of God. This must be taken into account.
Question: What force could have caused Thibeaux to suffer such injuries?
Answer: Thibeaux's head injuries could have been the result of a throw, fall, or being thrown. I don't believe he could have sustained these injuries from a fall from his normal height, meaning he slipped and hit his head. An extensive, depressed, multi-fragmented, and very deep fracture of the vault and base of the skull could have been the result of being thrown by a car moving at high speed or from another vehicle-related injury. Such an injury could have occurred if he had been thrown by a strong gust of wind, falling, and hitting his head on rocks, ice, etc. End quote.
A force equal to the power of a car didn't satisfy Ivanov. Where did that come from in the taiga? Ivanov quietly, off the record, asks, "Could a strong wind have knocked him down?" The expert replies, "Theoretically, yes." Ivanov replies, "We'll record that." "He was thrown by a strong gust of wind."
But we've already established that no strong wind was observed between 3 and 5 PM on February 1st. Only a hurricane could have thrown him with such force. Moreover, there was no hurricane down below, in the forest on the eastern slope, protected from the westerly wind. This is a classic trick of a dishonest investigator: to describe violence without naming the perpetrator. Of course, a strong wind can't throw a person and create the same momentum as in a car accident, causing a depressed comminuted skull fracture. The forensic examination itself contradicts this. But what's important for us is that the expert's words boil down to one thing. The force was disproportionate to a normal fall. This is clearly stated: he didn't slip and fell from his normal height. This means he's pushed hard, thrown back so hard that his body gains momentum and flies downward, rather than just falling... For example, a strong man grabs him by the shoulders and throws him with all his might. And if the man is also drunk, his throw is about 20-30% stronger because he's using his full potential.
A sober person can control himself. But a tipsy person throws with full force. But the main thing is that a drunk man has no fear or inhibitions. If he weighed 100 kg, then Kolya's flight speed was quite impressive.
In short, alcohol makes the thrust more abrupt, the flight trajectory more uncontrollable, and the force maximum. And either in flight or upon landing, Thibeaux hits his head on an extremely hard surface.
Next question: Is it safe to assume Thibeaux was struck by a stone held in a person's hand?
Answer: In this case, soft tissue would have been damaged, but this was not found. End of quote.
Here the expert directly states: "There was no stone blow from a hand." Why? There should be lacerations, skin lacerations, hematomas. He doesn't have any of these. Therefore, there was no "stone-to-skin-to-bone" contact. There is contact between the head and the stone, but not sharply. Therefore, the bones are destroyed, while the soft tissues remain intact. Thibeaux fell on his right temple. In this area, diffuse hemorrhage is noted in the right temporal muscle. This was antemortem. There is a depressed fracture of the right temporoparietal region and a defect in the temporal bone. That's understandable. Back in anatomy class, we were taught that the temple is the weakest point of the skull. What did Thibeaux hit himself on? As the Reborn says, on a motionless and extremely hard surface: a rock, ice, etc.
We have three possible scenarios. First, the edge of a rock, of which there were plenty in the forest. The best match with the event: the rock is absolutely hard, immobile. Second. Frozen ground. This scenario is often underestimated. Frozen ground is harder than concrete. It has all sorts of uneven surfaces, ice buildup, frozen ridges, icy edges. A temple plus the edge of ice—the same picture. And third, the root of a large tree, the same cedar. Its root is thick, hard, immobile, and has a sharp edge. You can fall on a root like on a rock. Or the trunk of a large tree, if Thibeaux hit it on his way down. Basically, the object is motionless and very hard. The main thing is that the body moved, but the object didn't.
Next question. Who dumped Kolya Thibeaux? It certainly wasn't the boss, but the enforcer. A physically strong subordinate. If the outsiders had two leaders and two enforcers, then the leaders set the tone, threaten, provoke, humiliate, but almost never engage in close contact themselves. They don't need that. They have status, a sense of superiority, a desire to keep their hands clean, especially if it all started with a drunken conversation.
The nature of Thibeaux's injury is the work of a strongman. It looks more like a sharp ram with the shoulder, a full-body push, or a blow during a turn. Or, as I said, someone simply grabbed him by the chest and threw him. Such a maneuver is typical for people accustomed to physical strength. These are security guards, lumberjacks, gamekeepers, prisoners, hunters, but not officials. A boss would never take risks. Even when tipsy, they sense their limits. They have a highly developed instinct for self-preservation. But the perpetrator doesn't think about the consequences, acts as if on command, gets carried away, wants to show off his strength in front of the boss. It's a classic. And as a result, the perpetrator's excesses occur. And the boss watches all this, stands aside, and gives the order. And the dirty work – that's all at the level of the perpetrators.
There's also the possibility that Thibeaux was knocked down while running. Who knows? Then anyone could have tripped him, including the boss or the Mansi. After which, Thibeaux, in mid-air, lands with his right temple on a hard ledge. That's also a very realistic scenario.
Be that as it may, Thibeaux's fall changes everything, because he doesn't get up afterward. The impact of his head on something hard resulted in a severe contusion, as evidenced by the description of the brain after the head hit the hard object. A jelly-like mass, the blurred boundaries of gray and white matter.
Investigator Ivanov asks the last question. How long did Thibeaux survive after his injury? Could he move around on his own?
Answer: After his injury, Thibeaux suffered a severe brain contusion, meaning he was unconscious. His mobility was limited, and he was unable to move for some time afterward. I believe he couldn't have moved even if someone had led him. He could only have been carried or dragged. He could have shown signs of life for two to two hours.
[–] Thibeaux didn't die instantly. He showed signs of life. After falling into a coma, a slow decline occurs due to cerebral edema and internal bleeding. He could breathe, but not speak or move. He could only have been carried or dragged. But no one was carrying or dragging him anywhere, of course, because there was no need and nowhere to go... They were all stunned.
If I were writing a script, I would depict the scene like this: Lyuda rushes to Thibeaux, who is visibly fading, grabs him by the jacket, and shakes him. "Get up, Kolya, get up!" Her hands are shaking, her voice is breaking. She can't believe her eyes. Kolevatov falls to his knees next to him, tries to find his pulse, reaches his palm to Kolya's forehead, and says, "He's alive, alive!"
Semyon Zolotaryov steps back, taking a step almost blindly. One thought rings in his head: "Damn, why did I even go with them? How could I have gotten myself into this mess?"
In a split second, everyone understands: "This is the point of no return." And after the initial shock, the guys felt the heavy breath of that sticky horror. They were beginning to realize that the taiga was indifferent, and there was no help to be had.
An inner voice told Kolevatov: "Promise to keep quiet! We didn't see anyone, we don't know anyone! Kolya Thibo wandered far away from us, we heard a scream. It was an accident!"
The strangers were also thinking frantically. Just now they'd been talking normally, jostling each other for a bit. And now there was silence, and someone's half-corpse underfoot. They'd only wanted to teach those tourists who'd exploded a lesson, and then this happened... What to do? What to do? How to get out of this situation?
The forest froze. Not a word, not a cry... (funeral music)
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