Pain, fear and tears. How the relatives of those killed over the Sinai live a year later

The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations found 111 passports of victims of the A321 crash in Sinai. 16 people escaped death in the Egyptian plane crash, while some of the bodies of the victims of the plane crash in Egypt have been identified. The President expressed condolences to the families of the victims and thanked everyone who supported them.

Plane crash in Egypt, last news: more bodies of victims found under the fuselage of the crashed A321

Russian rescuers discovered more fragments of the bodies of those killed in the A321 crash on the Sinai Peninsula in the place where the central part of the airliner’s fuselage is located, LifeNews reports.

“During the inspection of the airliner, Russian rescuers, using the Rosenbauer rescue vehicle, lifted a new part of the plane’s fuselage and discovered new remains of the plane’s passengers,” he said. intkbbach Director of the Department of Fire and Rescue Forces and Special Forces of the Ministry of Emergency Situations Alexander Agafonov. According to him, this part of the fuselage was lying upside down on the ground.

“The wreckage is scattered over a wide area, which confirms the information that the plane began to collapse while still in the air,” he added, noting that, despite the difficult conditions, the work of the teams will continue until nightfall.

Meanwhile, sources in the Federal Air Transport Agency told LifeNews that based on the location of the bodies of the dead and the wreckage of the airliner, an approximate picture of the crash of the airliner has already been established. According to preliminary data, the first victims of the A321 crash were passengers in the tail section of the airliner.

After the tail section of the airbus fell off at an altitude of almost 9 thousand meters, some of the passengers fell out. Search teams found some bodies of victims several kilometers from the crash site.

Part of the bodies of plane crash victims in Egypt identified

Relatives of those killed in St. Petersburg have identified some of the victims of the Kogalymavia plane crash, Vesti.Ru reports. The plane of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations delivered 140 bodies of the dead to the Northern capital from Egypt. On the evening of November 2, another plane is expected to take off from Cairo with the bodies of the dead.

The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations discovered 111 passports of victims of the A321 crash in Sinai

Meanwhile, employees of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, who this moment continue the search operation at the crash site of the Airbus A321, and during the day they found 111 passports of victims of the plane crash.

“Among the documents found at the crash site are passports of Ukrainian citizens. Work continues. Rescuers from the Ministry of Emergency Situations are working in a hollow where a large fragment of an airplane with personal belongings and an inflatable ladder was found,” Agafonov said.

It is also noted that rescuers have to work in extremely difficult conditions - in Sinai there is now unbearable heat, plus elevation changes and a huge territory to explore. The search area today has increased from four kilometers to 12. 74 Emergency Situations Ministry employees are combing the territory.

“The height difference in the hollow is 120 meters, and rescuers descend there using a rope. All found items are packed and delivered to the base camp, which is located 12 kilometers away,” says the director of the department.

French specialists have begun work at the crash site, and representatives of the IAC and Egyptian aviation authorities are also working.

16 people were able to escapedeath in Egyptian plane crash

Kogalymavia airline confirms that 16 people did not fly from St. Petersburg to Egypt on the next flight after the A321 crash, RIA Novosti reported, citing a statement from a representative of the airline's press service.

“At the moment, we only have information that on the day of what happened, on the day of the crash on the flight St. Petersburg - Sharm el-Sheikh (the return flight that the crashed A321 was supposed to make), 16 people did not fly and two people were removed for purely human reasons,” said the press service representative.

The President expressed condolences to the families of the victims and thanked everyone who supported them

Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded that work be carried out to investigate all the causes of the A321 crash until all the details of the tragedy are clarified, writes KP.

“Everything must be done to determine the cause of the plane crash so that we respond accordingly,” the president said.

Putin also said that the issue of assistance to the families of those killed in the plane crash should be resolved as soon as possible. He separately thanked the residents of St. Petersburg, who supported and empathized with the relatives of the victims.

“In such tragedies, in such hours, it is certainly very important to feel the shoulder of loved ones, the empathy of the entire country regarding this terrible catastrophe,” said Vladimir Putin.

About the plane crash in Egypt

Airbus 321, flight 9268 Sharm el-Sheikh - St. Petersburg, crashed on October 31. Shortly after taking off from the Egyptian airport, the crew of the airliner stopped communicating. It was reported that the plane dropped sharply by 1.5 kilometers, after which it disappeared from radar screens. Before losing contact, the pilot requested permission to land at Cairo airport, airport officials said.

Later the exact location of the plane crash became known. There were 224 people on board the A321 - seven crew members and 217 passengers, including, according to unconfirmed reports, 25 children. This plane crash became the largest in the history of Russian and Soviet aviation.

Airbus A321 flight 9268 of Kogalymavia Airlines (Metrojet brand) crashed and disappeared from radar on the morning of Saturday, October 31. There were 224 people on board the plane - passengers, children, 7 crew members, all of them were Russians. The airliner was operating a “tourist” flight between Sharm El-Sheikh and St. Petersburg.

The latest information about the disaster can also be read on Twitter using the hashtag #KogalymAvia And #7k9268 .

The Egyptian authorities officially confirmed the plane crash and began searching for the wreckage with the army, while the Turkish aviation authorities reported that the airliner had entered their airspace. At the same time, the media previously stated that the airliner continued its flight, but the official press of Cairo states that the plane crash did occur, and the wreckage of the airliner is in Sinai.

The most eloquent illustration is the Flightradar system, which allows you to track any civilian aircraft in the world that have special transponders. According to Flightradar it is seen that the plane "descended at approximately 6,000 feet per minute (110 km/h) before the signal was lost" 23 minutes after takeoff.

The press also reports that the airliner's crew reported malfunctions; some journalists say that the PIC and co-pilot requested an emergency landing - however, this information has not yet been confirmed.

Let us note that many pilots and aviation experts, speaking about plane crashes, recalled that an engine failure (without destroying the engine or the aircraft) does not lead to the crash of airliners - they can glide even with all engines turned off to the nearest airfield (this has also happened in the history of aviation - media they remember both the emergency landing of the Tu-204 and the “Gimli glider”).

“The plane crashed in a closed military zone. Counter-terrorism operations are being carried out there,” reports VGTRK.

A state of emergency was introduced in northern Sinai in Egypt in connection with the crash of a Russian plane; the Prime Minister of Egypt, rescuers and military personnel went to the crash site.

Reuters reports that "the screams of surviving passengers may be heard at the crash site."

“The CREW OF THE CRASHED RUSSIAN AIRLINER COMPLAINED ABOUT ENGINE PROBLEMS SEVERAL TIMES A WEEK,” news agencies report.

"Egyptian emergency services have begun removing the bodies of those killed in the crash of the Russian A-321 in the Sinai Peninsula," - reports AFP. The disaster site is cordoned off and protected from looters.

"The bodies of five children have been found; the Russian plane that crashed in Sinai has broken into two parts," AFP said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his deepest condolences to the relatives of those killed in the Kogalymavia plane crash, ordering rescuers to be sent to the scene of the tragedy.

“The total flight time of the 48-year-old commander of the plane that crashed in Egypt was 3,682 hours. Of these, Valery Nemov flew 1,100 hours as an aircraft commander,” Lifenews.ru said.

“As it became known, before flying on an A-321 type aircraft, Valery Nemov flew a TU-154. The pilot was retrained at the AmurAir training center located in Turkey,” the press adds, calling the PIC a professional pilot.

It became known that at least one of the passengers on the flight posted a photo of the plane and her husband and daughter before takeoff, writing " we're flying home ".

“According to the Egyptian side, the plane was trying to land at El-Arish airfield,” the Russian Embassy reported.

“As it became known, about a hundred bodies of passengers were pulled out from under the wreckage of a Russian airliner that crashed 100 kilometers from El-Arish in the north of the Sinai Peninsula,” reports Egypt Independet.

“Eyewitnesses say that the plane that crashed in Egypt was burning in the air,” Kommersant FM reported.

The media reported that rescuers found one of the flight recorders - black boxes - at the scene of the tragedy.

President Vladimir Putin declared mourning on November 1 in connection with the crash of a Russian airliner in Egypt.

The bodies of all 17 children were found at the A-321 crash site in Egypt. RIA Novosti reports with reference to a civil aviation representative.

As Gazeta.Ru found out, travel company Brisco, whose clients were flying on the crashed plane, and Kogalymavia airline are owned by the same people.

“Either a fire in the central/tail section, or an engine fire spreading throughout the entire nacelle with subsequent thermal destruction of the wing,” they write on a professional pilot forum.

The local Bedouin tribe Al Tayaha saw a Russian Kogalymavia airliner crash on the Sinai Peninsula. According to the nomads, the Airbus A321 burst into flames in the air, in particular, they saw one of the plane’s engines burning.

"Many died in seats wearing seat belts," Egyptian intelligence official/Reuters

The office of the owner of the Kogalymavia airline on Stoleshnikov Lane in Moscow is being searched. Law enforcement officers are seizing documents and electronic media from the office, media reports.

Egyptian aviation authorities do not rule out that the plane crash Russian airline“Kogalymavia” in Egypt occurred due to a terrorist attack, CBS Extra reports. “This version is unlikely, since terrorists in the region do not have appropriate weapons - anti-aircraft missile systems, because the plane was at an altitude of more than 6 thousand meters,” experts say.

“A couple of months ago, rockets were fired at Israeli territory from Sinai. In Syria and Libya, Islamists captured dozens of C125 and C200 complexes. In Yemen, firefights are taking place using Point U, and the Saudis have deployed Patriots along the entire border,” they write on social networks.

"According to a representative of the Egyptian investigation committee aviation incidents Ayman al-Mugadem, the pilot warned ground controllers that the plane had a “technical problem” and needed to land as soon as possible,” Izvestia reported.

Egyptian authorities said no one survived the Russian plane crash, Reuters reported.

Before taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh, the crashed plane underwent the necessary technical checks and no faults were identified, said the head of the Egyptian airport company Adel Mahgoub. “A technical inspection of the aircraft was carried out and its airworthiness was confirmed,” he emphasized.

A year has passed since the terrible plane crash over Sinai, which claimed the lives of 224 people. This period became a very difficult test for the relatives of the victims. New photographs from the plane crash site appeared in the media every now and then, and in in social networks scammers tried to profit from someone else's grief by posing as family members of the victims of the terrorist attack. After the death of their relatives, some went deep into themselves, others began to divide their children and living space, and still others still cannot bury their loved ones, because the bodies of six people have still not been identified. AiF.ru found out how the relatives of those killed over the Sinai live a year after the tragedy.

Those greeting us hoped until the very end that the plane would land in St. Petersburg. Photo: AiF/ Yana Khvatova

“The last wish is to find the culprits”

A year after the Airbus A321 crashed over Sinai, the investigation into the deaths of 224 people continues. Those who planted the bomb on the plane have not yet been found, but recently experts were able to identify the specific place where the explosives were located: the terrorists hid TNT between baby carriages at the rear of the plane. New information about the progress of the investigation appears in the media mass media almost every day, but most relatives of the victims do not follow this news: anyway, you can’t bring your loved ones back, and constant reminders of the tragedy only open up still fresh wounds.

Emergency Situations Ministry employees provided psychological assistance to the relatives of the flight passengers. Photo: AiF/ Yana Khvatova

Petersburg woman Natalya Zavgorodnyaya, who lost her parents on October 31, 2015, devotes all her free time to helping abandoned animals. “Natasha threw herself into her work,” the girl’s friends say. “It helps take your mind off grief.” Natasha helps animals, looking for a new home for them. All publications and stories cause her even more pain.” Mother Alexey Gromov, who died along with his wife Tatiana and 10 month old daughter Darina, on the contrary, is closely monitoring the progress of the investigation. According to the woman, her life is over, but one last wish remains: that those responsible for the death of her children and granddaughter, “the most important passenger” of flight No. 9268, be punished.

Relatives of the plane's passengers tried to find information about the flight. Photo: AiF/ Yana Khvatova

Compensation for the death of relatives

Currently monetary compensation received by all the families of the victims. The relatives were paid a million rubles each by the St. Petersburg authorities, and another million by the insurance company. True, to receive this money, some people had to spend a lot of time and nerves. It turned out that compensation is provided only for immediate relatives - children and parents. Compensation for the dead grandchildren, grandmothers or grandfathers had to be sought in court. I encountered this problem Shein family, who lost in a plane crash not only her adult children, but also three grandchildren. Now all financial issues have finally been settled.

About 70 families with whom I worked lawyer Igor Trunov, will receive an additional million dollars from the American leasing company International Lease Finance Corporation, the owner of the crashed Airbus. The matter did not come to court proceedings: the company has already confirmed its readiness to make payments. Most families did not turn to a well-known lawyer: for many, the three million rubles they had already received were enough. Besides, as we know, money cannot relieve grief.

After the terrible news, information about the flight was removed from Pulkovo electronic displays. Photo: AiF/ Yana Khvatova

Return of the Prodigal Father

It was money relations that became a bone of contention in many families of the victims. So, after the disaster, the father of the deceased Alisa Vitalieva, who had not communicated with his daughter for many years, immediately appeared on the horizon. The girl's mother and his ex-wife Irina also died in the plane crash. When Denis and Irina Vitaliev divorced, the woman raised her daughter alone, and the ex-husband did not participate in the girl’s life in any way and did not pay alimony: he had a new family. However, Irina was calm about the girl’s future, because Alice was supposed to inherit the apartment of her grandmother, Irina’s mother. When the tragedy occurred, the girl’s father immediately rushed to St. Petersburg, received compensation in the amount of 3 million rubles for her death and told his ex-mother-in-law, Elena Stepanovna Voitenko that now, by law, he claims half of her apartment, since Alice will no longer inherit.

The 63-year-old pensioner was outraged by such impudence, but then she had no time to sort things out: the pain of losing her beloved daughter and granddaughter was too great. Meanwhile, Denis Vitaliev, realizing that the law was on his side, wrote an application for inheritance. Currently, the conflict between the former relatives remains open: they have to go through many trials. “He did not raise his daughter and did not help financially,” says Alisa’s grandmother. “And now I’ve written an application for inheritance, although I promised not to lay claim to my home.” He decided to take the last thing away from me!”

On October 31, 2015, employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and ambulance. Photo: AiF/ Yana Khvatova

6 people are still not buried

Brother of Irina Vitalieva Alexander, unlike his careless son-in-law, did not try to take away anyone’s property, but organized a charitable foundation to help the relatives of those killed in the Flight 9268 disaster over Sinai. A St. Petersburg resident who lost his sister and niece found the strength to support other people. Alexander organizes memorial events in the city and is actively working to approve a monument to the victims of the terrorist attack.

According to the foundation, several families still cannot bury their loved ones: six of the dead have not yet been identified. Their remains are kept in the St. Petersburg crematorium all year, but are not subject to examination to establish their identity. People are patiently waiting for the newly discovered remains in Egypt, after being studied, to be transferred to St. Petersburg so that relatives can identify and bury their dead loved ones. If the identification procedure does not take place, the remains of six people will be buried in a mass grave.

Exactly one year after the tragedy, at 7:14 a.m. on October 31, a memorial service for the dead passengers of flight 9268 will be held in the Trinity Cathedral of St. Petersburg. On this day, their relatives will gather together again to remember those who can no longer be returned.

In memory of the victims of the Sinai disaster, 224 flying cranes were created in St. Petersburg. Photo: Charitable Foundation "Flight 9268"

On October 31, 2015, an A321 plane crashed in the Sinai Peninsula. Russian company"Kogalymavia", performing chartered flight 7K-9268 on the route Sharm el-Sheikh - St. Petersburg. The airliner disappeared from radar 23 minutes after takeoff.
The wreckage of the plane was lifted using a special tool. Photo: Nikolay Nikitenko
When we went to the crash site search groups Egyptian government, an Il-76 with rescuers from the Ministry of Emergency Situations took off from the airport in Ramenskoye near Moscow.
They had to work in the heat in the stone desert, where there was no infrastructure. Each rescuer walked more than 45 kilometers during these days. But physical stress is nothing compared to psychological stress. They had to collect fragments of passengers' bodies and children's belongings in the desert.
Nikolai NIKITENKO, an international class rescuer of the airmobile rescue team of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia (Tsentrospas) spoke about how the search operation took place on the Sinai Peninsula, how they interacted with their Egyptian colleagues.
- How did you receive the signal to leave?
- The operational duty officer of “Tsentrospas” has a panic button. A signal sounds, and then an announcement over the loudspeaker. If there is a long trip ahead, so as not to disturb the people once again, the operational duty officer can call the group commander, report that “readiness number one” has been received, get ready.
Usually the duty shift goes. Depending on the emergency specialists of a certain profile are recruited. If an emergency occurs on the water, more rescue divers are hired, if in the mountains - those rescuers who have mountaineering training.
If a significant group is required, guys from the reserve are called in. For a business trip to the Sinai Peninsula, for example, in addition to the duty shift, a reserve from Moscow was brought up. Two divisions of Centrospas are based in the capital: in Sredny Zolotorozhsky Lane and on Novoyasenevsky Prospekt.
43 people went to Egypt from Centrospas, from the Center for Conducting rescue operations special risk “Leader” - 40.


- What special equipment did you take with you?
- Heavy rescue vehicle "Rosenbauer", which is equipped with various equipment - a hydraulic station and tools: scissors, wire cutters, expanders, hydraulic cylinders, jacks, as well as a motor cutter, chainsaw. There are also two inflatable modules for living. The second vehicle, a KamAZ, was loaded with food, fuel, water, heavy equipment and another inflatable module. Also, a UAZ traveling car flew with us to the Sinai Peninsula on an IL-72. The Leader detachment had two KamAZ trucks with them with the necessary equipment and equipment. In Egypt, there were 5 units of equipment from the Russian operational group. The director of the Department of Fire and Rescue Forces and Special Forces of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, Alexander Agafonov, was appointed head of the operation on the Russian side.


- How long did it take to get to the crash site of A321?
- The flight to Cairo took 4.5 hours. Then, in the airport’s VIP lounge, we waited for the “Leader” squad to arrive. When everyone gathered, they formed a large column and moved to the Sinai Peninsula. The distance of 365 kilometers was covered in 8 hours. By that time it was already known that there were no survivors of the disaster.


Items found at the A321 crash site.
- How were you guarded, since the peninsula is located in the zone of action of tribes that have sworn allegiance to ISIS?
- The security was unprecedented. At the airport, when we unloaded our cars from the plane, we were given an armored escort jeep. Then, in the column with us, both in front, inside and behind, there were about seven or eight vehicles with Egyptian military personnel. There were checkpoints on the road every 10–15 kilometers. Along the way we saw trenches, fortifications, craters, and dugouts. They guided us and gave us a “green corridor,” including when we passed through the tunnel under the Suez Canal. Because of our column, a rather large traffic jam formed there.
- How did you set up a camp in such a troubled region?
- The camp was set up near the largest fragments of the plane. It was about 200 meters from the destroyed nose, wings and part of the fuselage. We have had technology that has been proven for years. We unloaded the modules and connected them one by one to the air blowers. We hung up the electrics. An hour and a half later we had camp. A total of 5 modules were installed: 4 residential and one equipped as a headquarters. We also set up a tent for the dining area.


The Egyptian military hammered in pegs and fenced the camp with barbed wire. We realized that we might stumble upon it in the dark, so we hung red and white marker tape on the wire. For safety reasons, the Egyptians brought a grader and dug in the camp. Parapet-type dumps were made along the entire perimeter. At night, patrols walked inside the camp, and jeeps stood along the edges. Then we found out that there was also long-range security.


- How were the searches organized?
“On the same day that we set up camp, our group, with the consent of the Egyptians, nevertheless jumped out to assess the approximate amount of work. The next day, at six in the morning, as soon as it was dawn, we got up. At seven we set out, taking with us water and packed lunches. The security didn't have time to intercept us and lost us. The Egyptians thought that the Russians would rest from the road, but the Russians unexpectedly left early. Then they caught up with us in a jeep.
We arrived together with the “leaders,” according to the Egyptian side, to the farthest point, unloaded, lined up in a chain, covering about 14 square kilometers, and let's go.
- It’s scary to imagine what you had to discover.
- They found personal belongings of passengers, documents, but the most painful thing was to collect children’s sandals, toys, mirrors... I also remember that they found a prayer book that was opened in prayer to the guardian angel: “... You enlighten me today and save me from all evil...”


The found prayer book was opened in prayer to the guardian angel.
- What kind of area was there?
- The rocky desert stretched all around. It felt like there used to be a huge sintered glass field with a crust, which then cracked. The sand was covered with small broken stones. There were low sandy mountains, their height according to GPS was a maximum of 70 meters.
- How many hours a day did you have to work?
- On the first day we walked about 15 kilometers, worked until 16 hours until we arrived at the camp. The next day, the Egyptians prepared two jeeps in advance to follow each of our trucks. We worked in a mountainous area. They found many passports, student cards, phones, and tablets of the dead passengers. We drove another ten kilometers. When they climbed into the mountains, the Egyptian military set up an observation post on the very high point and followed us from there.


For two days it was hot, reaching +35, but then the sun began to periodically go behind the clouds, it was quite comfortable - +22–24, but at night the temperature dropped to +6–8 degrees.
“Wrote poetry. It was as if someone from above was guiding his hand..."
- What condition were the things in? The news showed a burnt suitcase.
“We found this suitcase quite far from the main part of the wreckage. Even the tail part lay closer. It was clear that the suitcase had flown from the sky already burnt. We said among ourselves that there was some kind of thermal effect. This was clear from the scattering of the debris. Based on the charred items found in the rear cargo area, it looked like ground zero was there.
We drove through all the large objects, recorded their coordinates and photographed them. On found passenger seats human flesh remained. We cut the upholstery off the chairs and put them in bags. Upon returning to the camp, they surrendered to the Egyptian side.
On the third day we were given the go-ahead to work on the main part of the fuselage, which lay not far from the base camp. Egyptian army soldiers collected the bodies of the dead passengers who were lying on top. They, of course, did great, they were able to cover a fairly large area in a day, while passengers fell out of the plane that broke up in the air.
Where the bodies of the Russians lay could be judged by the gloves that the Egyptians left behind when they packed the dead passengers into bags. The entire field near large fragments of the aircraft was dotted with these gloves.
The plane, falling apart in the air, turned over and fell up the landing gear. We had no right to change the position of parts of the aircraft. The Egyptian side studied them, as well as other technical factors. We only lifted the debris using a special tool. Fragments of passengers' bodies were found under many of them. Rescuers collected 64 bags containing small fragments and five bags containing large body parts. We found the body of a child under a fragment of a wing...


- Then you wrote poems dedicated to the smallest passenger of Airbus 321 - Darina Gromova?
- I don’t know if we found the right girl. There it was impossible to even determine the sex of the child, the body was so damaged. I've seen a lot. This is not my first plane crash; I worked as a rescuer for twenty years. I saw that for the young guys from the Leader squad and our Muscovites this, of course, is a significant psychological burden. But on the fourth day it hit me too. I lay down to rest, turned on the player, listened not to music, but to poetry... And I began to feel pressure from within, I jumped out, grabbed a pen, found paper, and wrote poetry:
"I don't know you, Baby
How so? Why? For what?
A black flash forced me to sleep
And covered decay in eternity..."
As if someone from above was guiding his hand...
- Did they drive a refrigerator into the desert?
- No, an ambulance or a helicopter arrived for the remains once a day.
- Were the passengers’ belongings found somehow sealed?
“We put the bags with the things we found in one large bag, and upon arrival at the base, in the presence of our representatives, the things were handed over to the Egyptian side for inventory. The Egyptians sorted the things, packed them, put tags on them, and when a helicopter arrived, they loaded them and took them to Cairo.


- Relatives of the dead passengers accused the Egyptians of looting. Their loved ones were not wearing gold jewelry, which they never took off.
- When we arrived, the bodies of the dead were no longer there. One of our rescuers found a small sleeveless vest, either for a child or for a woman, which contained dollars; we handed them over for signature. The guys found some more rubles. There were no more valuable finds. What happened before we got to this area is on the conscience of the Egyptians. It is enough to leave Cairo to understand how poor the country is. I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out that the gold jewelry was stolen.
- Were there any settlements nearby?
- It wasn’t nearby. Although the guys later found an oasis twenty minutes away in the middle of the desert. All around is a lunar landscape, and there are four houses, emerald palm trees, and a lake. Rescuers were prohibited from approaching this settlement for safety reasons.
At the second stage, the search area expanded to 20–30 square meters. km, and then up to 40 sq. km, the scattering of aircraft parts and personal belongings of passengers was so great.
Drones were used, as well as space monitoring and forecasting of possible locations of aircraft wreckage and personal belongings of passengers.
“They said goodbye to the dead passengers of A321 in their own way”
- What kind of relationship did you have with the Egyptian military who guarded you?
- We had complete mutual understanding and support. The guys who worked with us were operatives just like us. One of the security officers once studied in St. Petersburg, greeted us, calling us fellow countrymen.
None of the Egyptians wanted to believe that the plane was blown up. This is a big blow for them. The Suez Canal, as we understand it, is in first place in terms of budget revenues, and the tourism business is in second place.
- Is it true that you were covered from the air by combat helicopters?
- Combat helicopters covered the helicopter, which brought MAK and Investigative Committee specialists to the crash site. An Mi-8 or a Chinook heavy military transport helicopter would land, and cover helicopters would patrol around. The guys from the embassy later told us that there were instructions to shoot any unidentified, non-military jeep in the desert.


- Did you experience a lack of water in the rocky desert?
- We had a supply of water and a shower with us. Only this time we did not install a pumping station on the shower. We saved water. A barrel was placed on the shower stall, from which water flowed by gravity. The “leaders” had their own shower and camp bath. The only thing was that there was not enough firewood. They were brought to the guys from somewhere. But we adapted and washed ourselves. They took liquid disinfectant sprays with them into the desert.
The Egyptians helped us very well with food. They brought us lunch boxes, which contained two bottles of water - sweet and mineral, a couple of flatbreads, salad, sauce, rice, French fries and a couple of pieces of meat. You could have eaten too much. Plus we had dry rations with us. From all this our cook prepared camp dishes.
- Was there no cell phone service?
- We used satellite communications. Nearest tower cellular communications stood on Israeli territory, 80 kilometers from us. When they turned on the phone, a message appeared: “Not registered on the network.” We were told that there were scouts there.


- Did the snakes bother you?
- We didn’t see any snakes. When the wind stopped, flies appeared. We constantly saw tracks of gecko lizards. But the camp could not do without guests. One day a jerboa jumped into the module. One of the rescuers put him in a box, stuffed him with cockroaches and cucumbers as food, and intended to take this trophy home. But then a whole party of “greens” gathered, and he was told: “This animal lived here, and should stay here.” When the jerboa was released, it immediately ran back into the module. I had to kick him out by force.
- How long did the search operation last?
- On October 31, we took off from the Ramenskoye airfield near Moscow and returned home on November 11. The operational group of the Leader center returned to Moscow on November 16. They said goodbye to the dead passengers of A321 in their own way. On the ninth day after the plane crash, they lined up at the largest fragment of the burnt airliner, declared a minute of silence and laid flowers.
Representatives of the Egyptian side also stood with us at the makeshift memorial, where children's toys were piled up.


224 people died, including 25 children. The people who committed this crime do not understand that there are laws of the Universe and no one can ever cancel the law of karma. Everything will return, everything will be rewarded.