# The 2019–2020 Prosecutor-General re-investigation of the Dyatlov Pass deaths, and what happened afterwards (to September 2026)

Research note. Working copies of the raw pages used are not included in this folder (file names given in brackets where useful). Russian quotations are given verbatim with an English rendering. Case-file sheet numbers ("л.д.") refer to the 1959 criminal case as transcribed at https://dyatlovpass.com/case-files-<sheets>?rbid=17743 (EN) and https://dyatlovpass.com/case-files-<sheets>-ru?rbid=17747 (RU).

**Bottom line.** In 2018–2019 the Sverdlovsk regional prosecutor's office ran a *надзорная проверка* (a supervisory "check", not a criminal investigation) of the 1959 case; on 11 July 2020 its leader, Andrei Kuryakov, announced that a small avalanche ("снежная доска"/"лавина") forced the group out of the tent, that they walked 50 m to a stone ridge, could not find the tent again in ≤16 m visibility and died of cold, and that the four in the ravine were crushed by a collapse of the snow bank they had undercut. The Prosecutor General (Igor Krasnov) disowned the press conference as Kuryakov's private act (order of 10 Aug 2020), Kuryakov was dismissed in October 2020, the written conclusions were never published or shown to most relatives, no court has ever ruled on them, and the 1959 termination order of 28 May 1959 remains the only legally operative decision. The relatives (lawyer Evgeny Chernousov) still demand a new criminal case (latest public push 2 June 2026); no authority had acted on it by September 2026.

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## 1. Why it was reopened, who ran it, what was done

### 1.1 Trigger and legal form
* The check was started inside the Sverdlovsk regional prosecutor's office in **September 2018** on the initiative of **Andrei Valentinovich Kuryakov**, then head of its department for supervision over the execution of federal legislation ("начальник управления по надзору за исполнением федерального законодательства прокуратуры Свердловской области"; from November 2019 deputy head of the Prosecutor General's directorate for the Urals Federal District). Source: news.ru, "Группа Дятлова как повод: за что уволили уральского прокурора Курьякова" (Nov 2020), https://news.ru/investigations/gruppa-dyatlova-kak-povod-za-chto-uvolili-uralskogo-prokurora-kuryakova ; dyatlovpass.com/kuryakov.
* Formal basis: an application filed by proxy on behalf of **one relative — Semyon Zolotaryov's niece** (the proxy was Komsomolskaya Pravda's Dyatlov correspondent Natalia Varsegova). This later mattered: in October 2020 the regional prosecutor's office refused Igor Dyatlov's sister Tatyana Perminova access to the results on the ground that she was not the applicant. Source: Kommersant, "Родные не узнали тайну перевала Дятлова", https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/4521475 ; Lenta.ru 2 Feb 2024, https://lenta.ru/articles/2024/02/02/pereval/ ("в 2018 году ... Наталья Варсегова, представлявшая интересы родственников одного из участников похода, обратилась в прокуратуру Свердловской области").
* Public announcement: **1 February 2019**, Prosecutor General's Office spokesman Aleksandr Kurennoy on the office's own video programme "Эфир": of "75 versions" only three, all natural, would be checked — "лавина, снежная доска, ураган" (avalanche, wind slab, hurricane); geodesists, "метрологи" (sic, meteorologists) and MChS rescuers would go to the pass in the second decade of March. Sources: MK 1 Feb 2019 https://www.mk.ru/social/2019/02/01/genprokuratura-nazvala-prichiny-gibeli-gruppy-dyatlova.html ; RIA 2 Feb 2019 https://ria.ru/20190202/1550276564.html ("из 75 версий произошедшего на Северном Урале будут проверены три природные — лавина, так называемая "снежная доска" и ураган"); Meduza 1 Feb 2019 https://meduza.io/news/2019/02/01/genprokuratura-provedet-novoe-rassledovanie-gibeli-gruppy-dyatlova.
* **4 February 2019**, Yekaterinburg press conference (Kuryakov in uniform): the 1959 decision to terminate the case is lawful and still in force, there will be no exhumation without the relatives' consent, and "документов ... в уголовном деле достаточно" (there are enough documents in the case to answer what happened). Source: AIF, "Прокуратура не будет возобновлять дело о гибели группы Дятлова", https://aif.ru/society/history/prokuratura_ne_budet_vozobnovlyat_delo_o_gibeli_gruppy_dyatlova. Kuryakov also explained the "Tempalov note" (the Ivdel prosecutor's note apparently dated 15 February, i.e. before the tent was found) as a slip of the pen: «Он едет докладывать о событиях, произошедших в феврале ... и автоматически в конце записки тоже ставит февраль» (RIA 2 Feb 2019).
* Legal nature. This was a *проверка* under the Law "О прокуратуре", not a resumption of the 1959 case. Kuryakov himself said the 1959 termination "законно и действует до сих пор" (AIF, above). The Investigative Committee, replying to the Foundation on 31 Aug 2018, had already stated that the 1959 termination order (л.д. 384–387) "can only be overruled by the prosecutor or the court in accordance with Articles 37 and 214 of the Criminal Procedure Code" (dyatlovpass.com/court-refusal-2018-08-31, English text of the IC letter). Nothing of the sort was ever done, which is the crux of the relatives' later objections (see §3).

### 1.2 The March 2019 site expedition and the expert examinations
* Second decade of March 2019: prosecutors, Rosreestr geodesists and MChS staff went to the pass with journalists from Rossiya‑1 and Komsomolskaya Pravda; the tent site was fixed "с ювелирной точностью" by photo‑technical comparison of 1959 search photographs with March 2019 photographs; a 3‑D terrain model was built. (KP, "Раскрыта причина гибели группы Дятлова: Главное из итогов прокурорской проверки", https://www.kp.ru/daily/27154.5/4251493/ ; Vesti, https://www.vesti.ru/article/2428857 : «Мы группой сотрудников прокуратуры и Росреестра выехали на перевал, определили точные координаты месторасположения палатки, назначили микроклиматическую экспертизу в Санкт-Петербурге...».)
* **18 March 2019**: glaciologist **Viktor Popovnin** (Moscow State University, geography faculty) made snow surveys on the slope ("Снегомерные работы в месте установки палатки дятловцев были проведены по методу прямой площадной снегосъемки") and concluded «Место установки палатки однозначно находится в лавиноопасном месте ... Этому способствует крутизна склона 21 градус, наличие незначительных поперечных каменистых гряд, спрятанных под сезонным снегом» — "The tent site is unambiguously in an avalanche‑prone place ... favoured by the 21° slope and minor transverse stone ridges hidden under the seasonal snow" (quoted by KP, https://www.kp.ru/daily/27262/4394254/).
* The **nine examinations** listed by Kuryakov (KP 27154 list; RIA; Vesti):
  1. геодезическая (Rosreestr) — coordinates of tent, bodies, cedar;
  2. фототехническая — distances from tent to the summits from 1959 and 2019 photographs;
  3. экспертиза фотоплёнок и негативов of the 1959 search photographs;
  4. интерактивная 3D‑модель of the pass;
  5. **микроклиматическая** — ФГБУ «Главная геофизическая обсерватория им. А. И. Воейкова», St Petersburg, author Dr Galina Pigoltsina ("доктор географических наук");
  6. **ситуационная / ситуологическая** — two independent masters of sport in sport tourism (Perm and Yekaterinburg): pitching the tent took ~2 hours; behaviour modelling;
  7. медико‑психологическая;
  8. **комплексная судебно‑медицинская** — six specialists, Sverdlovsk regional bureau of forensic medicine («в бюро судебно‑медицинских экспертиз в Свердловской области» — Vesti);
  9. **сравнительно‑документарная (юридическая)** — three legal scholars of the Ural State Law University assessed the 1959 file: «дело Дятлова, конечно, расследовано с определенными нарушениями» (RIA https://ria.ru/20200711/1574212580.html);
  plus Popovnin's glaciological conclusion and a "надзорный эксперимент" (blindfold test, §2). Kuryakov later spoke of "14 выводами экспертов и экспертных заключений в совершенно разных отраслях" supporting the avalanche exit (Vesti).
* The check concluded in late 2019 ("проверка ... проведённая ведомством в 2018–2019 годах" — Kommersant 4521475). A written *заключение* exists (Louhi et al. cite "Итоги экспертизы по тайне перевала Дятлова, 2020", and the Foundation spoke of ~1,500 pages of check materials — Nakanune https://www.nakanune.ru/news/2020/07/13/22578448/), but it has never been published.

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## 2. What was announced on 11 July 2020 (press conference at the Komsomolskaya Pravda press centre, Moscow)

Kuryakov appeared in civilian clothes, introduced as "юрист‑эксперт" and as a candidate for the degree of кандидат юридических наук on this very topic — a detail that became legally decisive (§3). Reports used: RIA https://ria.ru/20200711/1574208839.html , https://ria.ru/20200711/1574210659.html , https://ria.ru/20200711/1574213059.html ; Interfax https://www.interfax.ru/russia/716956 ; Kommersant https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/4415256 and https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/4415422 ; TASS https://tass.ru/obschestvo/8942789 (could not be fetched directly; content confirmed by search snippet); Lenta https://lenta.ru/news/2020/07/11/pereval/ ; Vesti https://www.vesti.ru/article/2428857 ; KP https://www.kp.ru/daily/27154.5/4251493/ ; Life https://life.ru/p/1333993 ; URA https://ura.news/news/1052440448 ; Revda‑info https://www.revda-info.ru/2020/07/12/dyatlov/ ; Lenta 2 Feb 2024 (Igor Nadezhdin) https://lenta.ru/articles/2024/02/02/pereval/.

### 2.1 Headline conclusion (verbatim)
> «Версия о лавине нашла свое полное подтверждение, но причиной гибели является не только она» — "The avalanche version has found full confirmation, but it is not the only cause of death." (Kommersant 4415256, quoting RIA)

> «Группа ушла на 50 метров, и они ушли к каменной гряде. Это естественный ограничитель лавины. Видимость была 16 метров. Они отошли на 50 метров» — "The group went 50 metres away, to the stone ridge. That is a natural avalanche barrier. Visibility was 16 metres. They had gone 50 metres." (Kommersant 4415256; RIA 1574208839)

> «Покинув палатку, группа вместе, без паники, отошла на 50 метров. Они ушли к каменной гряде ... Туристы замерзли сразу, когда вышли из зоны леса, там была температура минус 40‑45 градусов, с пронизывающим ветром» — "Having left the tent, the group withdrew together, without panic, 50 metres, to the stone ridge ... The hikers froze at once when they came out of the forest zone; the temperature there was minus 40–45 with a piercing wind." (Interfax 716956)

> «Склон лавиноопасен — это факт» — "The slope is avalanche‑prone — that is a fact." (Revda‑info)

### 2.2 The specifics, item by item
| Item | What the check claimed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Slab / avalanche | A "снежная доска" — "небольшая снежная лавина, стронувшая верхний, плотный слой снега" (a small avalanche that set the upper, dense snow layer moving) released above the tent "в результате резкого ухудшения погоды" (after a sharp deterioration of the weather). **No dimensions or mass of the slab were given publicly**; the only mass figure quoted (≈0.5 t of snow, 3–4 m deep) refers to the ravine collapse. | Interfax; Lenta 2024; RIA 1574210659 |
| Slope angle | 21° measured at the reconstructed tent site (versus 30° written in the 1959 protocol) — "на склоне с фактическим уклоном 21 градус (по протоколу — в 30)". KP's summary of the same check says the tent stood "на самом лавиноопасном месте, где наклон равен 25‑ти градусам" — an internal inconsistency in how the results were reported. | Lenta 2024; KP 27154; Popovnin quote in KP 27262 |
| Timing | Tent pitched from ≈17:00 on 1 Feb (1959 film exposure, л.д. 384–387), pitching took ≈2 h (situational expertise); the group left the tent at "примерно 21.00"; i.e. the slab came ≈4 h after the tent was finished. Fire at the cedar burned ≈1.5 h. Deaths of seven "2 февраля примерно в период с 1 до 2 часов ночи, через 4‑5 часов после приема пищи" (between 01:00 and 02:00 on 2 Feb, 4–5 h after the meal); Krivonischenko and Doroshenko earlier. | KP 27154 |
| Evacuation | "в течение 12 секунд, мы это тоже проверили" (they left within 12 seconds, we checked that too — Vesti). In 2024 Kuryakov gave the experiment as: «эвакуация семи человек через выход палатки занимает 44 секунды, а через разрез — 14» (evacuating seven people through the entrance takes 44 s, through the cut 14 s). He credits Zolotaryov, the only member with avalanche‑country experience (Caucasus, Altai), with hearing the "снежки" rolling, going out with the duty man Thibeaux‑Brignolle, lighting the slope and ordering the cut; Zolotaryov also supposedly left the flashlight on the ridge of the tent "как светящийся ориентир". | Vesti; Lenta 2024 |
| Stone ridge | The group walked ~50 m to the first stone ridge (каменная гряда), "естественный ограничитель лавины", and waited; then, unable to see the tent, descended "по лавинному следу" 1.5 km to the forest. | Interfax; Kommersant; Lenta 2024 |
| Visibility | "от 6 до 16 метров" (Interfax); "видимость объекта размером с палатку была не более 16 метров" in "абсолютно темная безлунная ночь, с пургой" (Vesti). **Blindfold experiment:** «В ходе проведенного надзорного эксперимента мы завязали глаза мужчине и женщине» — a blindfolded man and woman could not find the tent from 50 m even knowing the direction. | Interfax; Kommersant 4415256; Lenta |
| Temperature and wind | Pigoltsina's microclimate expertise: at ~21:00 the wind‑chill index was −30, by 03:00 −46 ("ветро‑холодовой индекс равнялся уже 46 градусам мороза"); NW wind 8 m/s with gusts to 30 m/s; exposed skin frostbitten within half an hour. Kuryakov's "минус 40‑45" in the press quotes is this wind‑chill figure, not the air temperature (1959 estimate −25…−30 °C, л.д. 384–387). In 2024 he added microclimatologists' finding of downslope winds "со скоростью до 40 метров в секунду, которые буквально опрокидывают людей". The "hurricane" version (locals' claims of 50–70 m/s winds that blow people and reindeer off the mountain) "прокуратура рассматривала очень серьезно", but climatologists refuted it. | KP 27154; Lenta 2024; RIA 1574213059 |
| Injuries of the ravine four | «Они сделали настил ... Их снесло с настила и засыпало трехметровым слоем снега» — they built a flooring, undercut the snow bank of the ravine, "тонны подрезанной снежной массы накрыли ребят", they were swept off the flooring and buried under 3 m of snow. Mechanism: «Если сверху, со всех сторон, давил снег — три‑четыре метра снега — это примерно полтонны, то телесные повреждения должны быть с обратной стороны. Вот они с обратной стороны у всех и были ... травмы причинены давлением обтекающей силы» — "If snow pressed from above and all sides — three to four metres, roughly half a tonne — the injuries must be on the opposite side, and they were on the opposite side in all of them ... caused by the pressure of a flowing (enveloping) force." «Все телесные повреждения характерны для телесных повреждений групп туристов, которые попадают в лавину. Исследования, анализ и обобщение этих признаков были проведены в 70‑80‑х годах, в 1959 году этих исследований еще не было» — "All the injuries are typical of hiking groups caught in avalanches; that research was done in the 1970s–80s and did not exist in 1959." KP: "По выводам комплексной судмедэкспертизы, которую проводили 6 специалистов, жуткие переломы ребер у Люды и Семена спровоцировал именно снежный обвал высотой до трех метров." Zolotaryov and Dubinina died of chest injuries, Thibeaux of the skull injury; all others of hypothermia. **Note:** in this version nobody is injured at the tent — the opposite of Buyanov's and (optionally) Gaume–Puzrin's versions. | RIA 1574210659; Life; URA 1052440448; KP 27154 |
| Radiation | «наиболее вероятным источником радиоактивного загрязнения одежды Александра Колеватова и Юрия Кривонищенко стал Восточно‑Уральский радиоактивный след (появившийся после аварии на ПО «Маяк» в 1957 году)» — the East‑Urals Radioactive Trace from the 1957 Mayak accident; the hikers had trained in that zone and "там и могли «подцепить» радиацию на одежду". A nuclear explosion was excluded because "на книгах, которые члены группы брали в поход, не было следов радиационного заражения" (the books they carried showed no contamination). | KP 27154; RIA 1574213059 |
| Eyes/tongue | I could not find any Kuryakov statement on Dubinina's missing tongue/eyes in the retrievable press reports (RIA, Interfax, Kommersant, KP, Vesti, Lenta 2020/2024). The reports are silent; the standard forensic reading (autolysis/maceration of the exposed head in the unfrozen stream over three months) is what the check's forensic experts are reported to have assumed, but I have no verbatim source and flag this as a gap. | — |
| Nine "groups of versions" rejected | Kuryakov's list (RIA 1574213059): the Ivdel prosecutor "knew" two weeks before the tent was found; unexplained attention from the USSR Prosecutor General's Office; luminous spheres; rocket tests; a nuclear explosion; a hurricane that tore the tent; seismic events; an impostor posing as Zolotaryov; avalanche. Only the last survived. | RIA |
| Follow‑up | Because the slope was found avalanche‑prone, the prosecutor's office sent information letters to the Sverdlovsk regional MChS directorate and to Governor Kuyvashev proposing safety measures on the pass (Interfax; Kommersant https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/4499679 ; KP https://www.kp.ru/daily/27224.3/4347673/). | |

### 2.3 Kuryakov's reconstruction in one paragraph (as reported 2020 and restated 2024)
Tent pitched late afternoon 1 Feb on the lee side of a false wind‑shadow (snow, not rock — RIA 1574208839); ≈21:00 the slab starts; Zolotaryov and Thibeaux are already outside, the rest cut the tent and leave in seconds; all nine walk ~50 m right to the stone ridge; the flashlight left on the tent is buried or turned by snow and they lose the tent in the blizzard; they descend along the "avalanche track" 1.5 km to the cedar, light a fire (≈1.5 h); Krivonischenko and Doroshenko, injured or exhausted, die first; Dyatlov, Slobodin and Kolmogorova try to climb back and die on the slope; the other four dig into the ravine bank, build a flooring, undercut the snow, the bank collapses on them ("повторила ту же ошибку — подкопалась под «снежную доску»"); Kolevatov dies of cold, the other three of crush injuries; everyone but the first two is dead by 01:00–02:00. Kuryakov: «Это была героическая борьба. Паники не было» ("It was a heroic struggle. There was no panic.").

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## 3. Reactions, discipline, courts, the Investigative Committee, and events to September 2026

### 3.1 Immediate reactions (July 2020)
* **Dyatlov Memorial Foundation (Фонд памяти группы Дятлова), chairman Yuri Kuntsevich:** «Понятно, что травмы получены если не в результате преступления, то от технического воздействия, но никак не от природных явлений» — "Clearly the injuries came, if not from a crime, then from a technical impact — certainly not from natural phenomena"; the relatives insist on a man‑made ("техногенная") disaster; the Foundation announced a written rebuttal and said it would insist on resuming the investigation. Sources: URA https://ura.news/news/1052440425 ; RIA 12 Jul 2020 https://ria.ru/20200712/1574232221.html ; Interfax https://www.interfax.ru/russia/717006 ; Business‑Gazeta https://www.business-gazeta.ru/news/474517.
* **Evgeny Chernousov** (Moscow advocate, former MVD criminal‑investigation officer; counsel for the Foundation and for the sisters of Dyatlov, Doroshenko and Slobodin): «Мы не согласны, будем анализировать всё, что было представлено» — "We do not agree; we will analyse everything that was presented" (Kommersant https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/4415287); "the relatives will not accept this conclusion ... only a technogenic version" (Lenta https://lenta.ru/news/2020/07/11/proverka/).
* **Sergei Sogrin** (searcher of 1959, consultant to investigator Ivanov): «То, что сказал Курьяков — безобразие ... лавины быть не могло, это установленный ещё в 1959 г. факт. Во‑вторых, Курьяков говорит, что группа выбежала на 50 м и раздетая стояла и думала, что делать дальше. Это полнейший кретинизм. Ежу понятно, что надо вернуться...» — "What Kuryakov said is an outrage ... there could have been no avalanche, that was established back in 1959. Secondly, he says the group ran 50 m and stood there undressed thinking what to do next. That is utter cretinism — obviously you go back..." (Nakanune https://www.nakanune.ru/news/2020/07/13/22578448/). In Feb 2021 he added that in 1959 he cut snow sections on the slope and found no weak layer: «Проверяли и на сход так называемой снежной доски ... Однако я делал срез снежной толщи и ничего подобного не обнаружил. На склонах выпирали камни, которые обычно и удерживают снег. Зоны лавиносбора не было» (RIA https://ria.ru/20210202/dyatlov-1595569214.html).
* **Oleg Arkhipov** (Tyumen researcher): the press conference was, in effect, "самое раскрученное в СМИ «соискание» на учёную степень" — the most media‑hyped PhD application ever (Nakanune https://www.nakanune.ru/news/2020/07/13/22578504/).
* **Ivan Dusharin**, vice‑president of the Russian Mountaineering Federation: «Крутизна склона относительно невысокая, обычная снежная обстановка, очень сомнительно, что может возникнуть лавина» — the slope is gentle, ordinary snow conditions, an avalanche is very doubtful; if anything, wind‑driven "доски" on a hard crust (Kommersant FM https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/4415300).
* **Tatyana Perminova**, Igor Dyatlov's sister (MK 22 Jul 2020, https://www.mk.ru/social/2020/07/22/sestra-igorya-dyatlova-razgromila-verdikt-prokurorov-o-prichine-gibeli-gruppy.html): «В 1959 году, когда расследование было проведено по свежим следам, версию лавины отменили начисто» — "In 1959, when the investigation was fresh, the avalanche version was ruled out completely"; she quotes searcher Mikhail Sharavin that there was no snow load on the tent, only 10–15 cm blown in by wind; the relatives asked the Prosecutor General to say whether Kuryakov's statements were the official position and "каким правовым документом должны быть подтверждены выводы" (by what legal document the conclusions are confirmed) and where the materials can be read.
* **Pyotr Bartolomey** (Dyatlov's friend, searcher): the avalanche is "версия для отвода глаз" — a smokescreen (RIA 2 Feb 2022 https://ria.ru/20220202/turisty-1770530273.html).

### 3.2 The Prosecutor General disowns the press conference; Kuryakov dismissed
* **10 August 2020**: Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov issued a *предупреждение о неполном служебном соответствии* (warning of incomplete official compliance — the last step before dismissal) to Kuryakov. The order states that on 11 July Kuryakov, «действуя за рамками своих должностных обязанностей и в отсутствие поручения руководства, в личных целях, обусловленных подготовкой своей диссертации на соискание учёной степени кандидата юридических наук», took part in the press conference, announced the completion of the check and assessed the Sverdlovsk prosecutors' work — "acting outside his official duties and without instruction from management, for personal purposes connected with preparing his PhD thesis". Sources: Kommersant https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/4457652 ; news.ru (quotes the order); E1 https://www.e1.ru/text/criminal/2020/11/01/69524797/.
* **October 2020**: Kuryakov left the Prosecutor General's Urals directorate; Kommersant's source names a second reason — an attempt to promote his wife, deputy prosecutor of Yekaterinburg Venera Kuryakova, to city prosecutor (she was also dismissed). Sources: Kommersant 2 Nov 2020, "Прокурор не преодолел перевал Дятлова", https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/4557977 ; Lenta https://lenta.ru/news/2020/11/02/lavina/ ; RIA https://ria.ru/20201102/dyatlov-1582725546.html ; Fontanka https://www.fontanka.ru/2020/11/02/69526741/.
* Consequence: officially the Prosecutor General's Office has **never adopted** the 11 July 2020 conclusions as its position, and has never published the check's written results. Chernousov: «они не имеют юридической силы в отношении событий, происшедших в 1959 году ... Постановление о прекращении уголовного дела ... 28 мая 1959 года, не может быть скорректировано или изменено вне рамок уголовного дела» — "they have no legal force in respect of the events of 1959 ... the 28 May 1959 termination order cannot be corrected or changed outside a criminal case" (Уральский рабочий, https://уральский-рабочий.рф/news/item/30027 ; punycode xn----7sbbe6addecj3bpgj0a0fvd.xn--p1ai).

### 3.3 The relatives' complaints and the (absent) court cases
* **Sept 2020**: eight relatives (including the sisters of Dyatlov, Doroshenko and Slobodin) sent a collective appeal to the Prosecutor General asking him to publish a refutation of the 11 July statements on the office's website and to conduct an internal inquiry into Kuryakov's "незаконные действия"; they also argued the whole check was unlawful because they had never been recognised as victims, which is possible only inside a criminal case (Kommersant https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/4458612). Chernousov's stated goal: a criminal case under Art. 105(2)(a) CC RF (murder of two or more persons) on the theory of a toxic release from a rocket launch («произошел выброс в атмосферу сильнодействующего отравляющего вещества» — Kommersant 4521475).
* **Oct 2020**: the Sverdlovsk regional prosecutor's office refused Perminova access to the results (applicant was Zolotaryov's niece); it said the documents were in the Sverdlovsk State Archive with restricted access (Kommersant 4521475, https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/4521503). Chernousov asked the Prosecutor General for an internal check; an answer came in October 2020 (RIA 2 Feb 2021) — no refutation was ever published.
* **Courts.** In 2020 the Foundation and Chernousov repeatedly announced lawsuits (against the prosecutor's office; against TNT over the 2020 TV series, which TNT countered with a defamation‑suit threat: RG https://rg.ru/2020/11/24/reg-urfo/avtory-seriala-pro-pereval-diatlova-podadut-v-sud-na-advokata-fonda-turgruppy.html). **I found no record — in the press (Kommersant, RIA, TASS, Lenta, URA, E1, AIF, Izvestia, Fontanka), on dyatlovpass.com's updates page, or via sudact.ru/sudrf searches — of any court (Verkh‑Isetsky, Leninsky or Kirovsky district courts of Yekaterinburg, the Sverdlovsk Regional Court, the Seventh Cassation Court) ever ruling on the lawfulness of the 2020 check or on the 11 July 2020 conclusions in 2021–2026.** The only judicial‑style documents on record are: (i) the Investigative Committee's letter of 31 Aug 2018 refusing to reopen (it is labelled a "court decision" on dyatlovpass.com but is an IC reply), stating that the 1959 order can be overruled only by a prosecutor or a court under Arts. 37/214 CPC; (ii) a 2014 Sverdlovsk Regional Court refusal to consider an earlier complaint by advocate E. A. Chernykh (mentioned in press summaries, not verified by me). Conclusion: the 2020 findings have never been tested in court, and no court has characterised them (e.g. as "not a legal act"); their non‑binding status follows from the disciplinary order itself and from the untouched 1959 termination order.
* **Investigative Committee (СК).** 2014: the Foundation and KP (with ex‑investigator Leonid Proshkin) applied to the IC; the IC answered that it had conducted no investigation (dyatlovpass.com/kuryakov, comment history). **30 Sep 2019**: the IC, instead of opening or refusing a case, forwarded the Foundation's July 2019 application to the Prosecutor General's Office after two months; Chernousov: «Генеральная прокуратура не имеет право ни возбуждать, ни отказывать в возбуждении уголовного дела» (RIA https://ria.ru/20190930/1559284252.html ; Уральский рабочий item 25593). No IC decision on the merits has been reported since.
* **Yuri Kuntsevich died on 11 August 2021** in Yekaterinburg, in his 75th year, of COVID‑19, after returning ill from his annual expedition to the pass (RIA https://ria.ru/20210811/kuntsevich-1745336772.html ; E1 https://www.e1.ru/text/incidents/2021/08/12/70074185/). In 2021 the researcher community split, part of it founding the inter‑regional "Общество памяти группы Игоря Дятлова" (VZ 2 Jun 2026).

### 3.4 2024–2026
* **2 Feb 2024, Lenta.ru long read** (Igor Nadezhdin, https://lenta.ru/articles/2024/02/02/pereval/): restates Kuryakov's figures — slope 21° vs 30° in the protocol; 44 s vs 14 s evacuation; Zolotaryov recognised the avalanche danger and ordered the cut; downslope winds up to 40 m/s; radiation from the Kyshtym trace; the second group "подкопалась под «снежную доску»". Objections quoted: **Natalia Varsegova** (KP): «среди первых спасателей было много альпинистов, но никто из них не выдвинул версию лавины. Во‑вторых, если фонарик оставили на коньке перед сходом «снежной доски», то почему его не снесло, а если после — то что мешало сразу откапывать палатку?» — "many of the first rescuers were mountaineers and none proposed an avalanche; and if the flashlight was left on the ridge before the slab, why was it not swept away, and if after, what stopped them digging the tent out at once?"; **Chernousov**: the only possible version is man‑made. The author himself (a 1980s tourist) says instructors then already taught the "снежная доска + страх" explanation.
* **3 Dec 2025 – 17 Dec 2025**: Evgeny Buyanov drew parallels between the Dyatlov case and the disappearance of the Usoltsev family (Krasnoyarsk krai, 28 Sep 2025): the "эффект парадоксального раздевания" and natural factors (AIF https://aif.ru/incidents/buyanov-usolcevyh-mog-pogubit-effekt-razdevaniya-kak-u-gruppy-dyatlova ; Rodina 17 Dec 2025).
* **2 June 2026**: Chernousov (for Perminova and other relatives) announced to TASS that they will seek a new criminal case: «Мы хотим добиться того, чтобы возбудили уголовное дело и провели расследование» — "We want a criminal case to be opened and an investigation held"; ground: the nine 1959 autopsy acts lack the mandatory chemical (toxicological) and histological examinations («К актам вскрытия по каждому уголовному делу в обязательном порядке прилагаются химические экспертизы, а также гистология. Но их нет»); a new case should be under the murder article, followed by exhumation of all nine bodies; the relatives also demand that federal TV stop airing "versions that do not correspond to reality". Sources: Izvestia https://iz.ru/2107602/2026-06-02/rodstvenniki-pogibshikh-uchastnikov-gruppy-diatlova-potrebovali-vozobnovit-delo ; Fontanka https://www.fontanka.ru/2026/06/02/76455176/ ; VZ https://vz.ru/news/2026/6/2/1423895.html ; URA https://ura.news/news/1053098213 (Chernousov: the 1959 case "фактически не возбуждалось, поскольку у него отсутствует порядковый номер"). **No response from the Investigative Committee or the prosecutor's office had been reported by 14 September 2026.**
* **3 June 2026**: Buyanov to Izvestia/AIF (https://iz.ru/2108340/2026-06-03/ekspert-nazval-prichinu-gibeli-gruppy-diatlova-na-fone-novogo-dela ; https://aif.ru/society/ekspert-buyanov-nazval-prichinu-gibeli-gruppy-dyatlova-na-fone-novogo-dela): «Палатка стояла в зоне средней лавинной опасности. Они подрезали снежную доску, которая держалась там на честном слове. В какой‑то момент она не выдержала, и кусок съехал, придавив их. Это типичные лавинные травмы — компрессионное сдавливание, переломы без следов внешних повреждений» — "The tent stood in a zone of moderate avalanche danger. They undercut a snow slab that was barely holding. At some point it gave way and a piece slid down and crushed them. These are typical avalanche injuries — compression, fractures without external marks." He attributes the fireballs to Baikonur launches on 17 Feb and 31 Mar and the radiation to Novaya Zemlya fallout (Ce‑144) — the latter contradicting the prosecutor's Kyshtym attribution.
* The Izvestia tag page (https://iz.ru/tag/pereval-diatlova) lists these items; iz.ru blocks non‑browser fetches (HTTP 403), so the two June 2026 articles were read by other means and cross‑checked against Fontanka/VZ/URA.

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## 4. Weak points of the 2019–2020 findings as identified by Russian critics

1. **No avalanche traces in 1959.** The first searchers (Slobtsov, Sharavin, Brusnitsin, Atmanaki, Karelin, Sogrin, Axelrod, Maslennikov) reported no debris, crown or displaced snow; the tent carried 15–20 cm of wind‑packed snow, the entrance pole stood, skis under the floor and a ski/ice‑axe stuck in the snow were undisturbed, a flashlight lay *on top* of the snow on the tent with 5–10 cm of snow beneath it and none above (Slobtsov, л.д. 298–300; Atmanaki, л.д. 209–220; Ivanov's order, л.д. 384–387). Sogrin cut snow sections and found no weak layer (RIA 2021). Varsegova's flashlight paradox (Lenta 2024). Kuryakov never explained how a slab that buried the tent left the flashlight on the surface, other than "засыпало или повернуло снегом".
2. **The slope angle and the tent position.** Popovnin measured 21° and called the site avalanche‑prone; KP (Nikolai and Natalia Varsegov, "Почему нельзя доверять выводам прокурорской проверки о лавиноопасном склоне", https://www.kp.ru/daily/27262/4394254/) showed with searcher Vladislav Karelin that the measurement "не привязано к конкретной точке склона" — the exact tent position is unknown (three candidate sites with different relief), so the angle "повисает в воздухе". The Institute of Geophysics (Urals branch RAS) declined to call the slope avalanche‑prone: «Этот склон не лавиноопасный, осадков тогда выпало в среднем 90 мм» (quoted by Louhi et al.).
3. **Two incompatible "avalanches".** The geographers' review "Перевал Дятлова. А была ли лавина?" (V. Louhi, E. Dmitrievskaya, O. Litvinova, V. Ankudinov; https://dyatlovpass.com/louhi-dmitrievskaya-litvinova-ankudinov-ru) stresses that «"лавина Буянова" объективно отличается от "лавины Курьякова"»: in Buyanov's (and Gaume–Puzrin's) version the fatal injuries are inflicted in the tent; in Kuryakov's «все туристы выбрались из палатки и сами прошли вниз по склону полтора километра» and the fractures come from a "second avalanche" in the ravine — «Причиняющий переломы ребер обвал по Курьякову был с берега ручья». Neither version accounts for both the intact flooring with clothes laid on it and the bodies 6 m away (protocol л.д. 341–343).
4. **The ravine injuries.** Forensic expert Eduard Tumanov (KP's consultant): the rib fractures «сломались по другим линиям», so «мы не можем вот так однозначно сказать, что травмы грудной клетки образовались при сдавливании всего каркаса»; exhumation would be needed to settle the mechanism (KP https://www.kp.ru/daily/26971.3/4026055/). Vozrozhdenny in 1959 already noted the absence of soft‑tissue damage and compared the pattern to a blast wave or a car impact (л.д. 381–383). The prosecutor's "polutonny" (half‑tonne) of snow was never converted into a computed load or a fall distance.
5. **Weather numbers.** The check's own microclimatologist gives 8 m/s gusting 30 m/s and wind‑chill −30 at 21:00; Kuryakov's public "−40…−45 °C" conflated wind‑chill with temperature, and his 2024 "up to 40 m/s" is another figure again; Gaume–Puzrin needed 2–12 m/s for the delayed release and cite Pigoltsina's 9–12 m/s. Critics (Louhi et al.; Sogrin) point out that whichever wind is chosen undermines something: strong wind removes loose snow and explains no slab; weak wind explains no reason to abandon the tent.
6. **Behaviour.** Sogrin, Dusharin, Perminova: experienced skiers do not stand 50 m from a buried tent in a blizzard; they dig it out. Kuryakov's "без паники" is at odds with his own "12 seconds" evacuation and with a 1.5 km barefoot descent.
7. **Procedure and status.** The check was not a criminal proceeding; the relatives were not parties; only Zolotaryov's niece's proxy was the applicant; the written conclusion has never been published; Kuryakov spoke as a private person preparing a dissertation (Krasnov's order); the Ural State Law University's own expertise found the 1959 investigation flawed yet the check adopted its forensic findings wholesale. Chernousov's structural point: the 1959 case has no registration number, cover or article, so it was "укрыто от учета" and the missing toxicology/histology make the 1959 conclusions unverifiable (URA 2026; Уральский рабочий 25593).
8. **Buyanov's and Rakitin's positions.** Buyanov (mountaineering master of sport, St Petersburg) accepts the slab but rejects the ravine collapse as the source of the fractures — for him the injuries were inflicted in the tent by a "снежная доска" pressing bodies against the hard tent floor, which is why the group fled carrying wounded (see rival‑theories.md §6). Rakitin dismisses any avalanche because "в уголовном деле нет ничего, что может говорить о снежном завале" and because a slab cannot cut boots off nine people (murders.ru, chs. 18–19). The "Kolmogorova's brother" objections mentioned in the tasking could not be located in any Russian source I searched (Kolmogorova's surviving relatives are not quoted in the 2020 coverage); the documented family objections are Perminova's (Dyatlov), the sisters of Doroshenko and Slobodin (collective appeal), and Zolotaryov's niece (the original applicant) — flagged as unverified.
9. **What the check did establish, on the critics' own admission.** The tent site was fixed by photogrammetry; Pigoltsina's microclimate reconstruction and Popovnin's snow measurements were later used by Gaume and Puzrin as independent confirmation of their model inputs (snow cover >150 cm above the tent, wind 9–12 m/s, wind transport 600–1000 m³/m per winter; Nature Comm. Earth Env. 3, 49 (2022), https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-022-00393-x). So the physical possibility of a slab was strengthened by the check even though its narrative was not.

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## 5. Source list (primary reports used)
Prosecutor's statements: RIA 20200711 (four items) ; Interfax 716956 ; Kommersant 4415256, 4415422 ; TASS 8942789 ; Vesti 2428857 ; KP 27154.5/4251493 ; Life 1333993 ; URA 1052440448 ; Lenta 2020/07/11/pereval ; Lenta 2024/02/02/pereval. Reopening 2019: MK 2019/02/01 ; RIA 20190202/1550276564 ; Meduza 2019/02/01 ; AIF prokuratura_ne_budet_vozobnovlyat ; KP 27262/4394254. Discipline/dismissal: Kommersant 4457652, 4521475, 4521503, 4557977 ; news.ru ; E1 2020/11/01 ; Lenta 2020/11/02 ; RIA 20201102 ; Fontanka 2020/11/02 ; dyatlovpass.com/kuryakov. Reactions: URA 1052440425 ; RIA 20200712/1574232221 ; Interfax 717006 ; Kommersant 4415287, 4415300, 4458612 ; Nakanune 22578448, 22578504 ; MK 2020/07/22 ; RIA 20210202 ; RIA 20220202. IC and legal status: dyatlovpass.com/court-refusal-2018-08-31 ; RIA 20190930/1559284252 ; уральский‑рабочий.рф items 25593, 30027. Kuntsevich: RIA 20210811 ; E1 2021/08/12. 2025–2026: AIF (Buyanov, Usoltsev) ; Izvestia 2107602, 2108340 ; Fontanka 2026/06/02 ; VZ 2026/6/2 ; URA 1053098213 ; chel.aif.ru. Critiques: dyatlovpass.com/louhi‑dmitrievskaya‑litvinova‑ankudinov‑ru ; KP 26971.3/4026055 ; Nature s43247‑022‑00393‑x.