The mystery of the Kitabo-Ooron waterfall: where and how Yevgeny Zinichev died

Victoria Pavlova

This is the last photograph of Yevgeny Zinichev during his lifetime.

On Tuesday, together with the Governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Alexander Uss, he checked the construction progress of the fire station in Norilsk. From there he flew to the Kitabo-Oron waterfall. Zinichev did not participate in the exercises of the Ministry of Emergency Situations - he was a spectator. The media leaked documents confirming that the exercises near Norilsk, on behalf of the president, were organized and supervised by the Deputy Minister, Alexander Chupriyan (he was appointed acting minister instead of the deceased Zinichev).

It is not known exactly where the tragedy occurred. Photos and videos from the scene of the tragedy have not been made public. The Taiga.info portal claims that everything could have happened on Lake Lama, 120 km from Norilsk, in a protected area in the western part of the Putoransky Nature Reserve. This place is considered a landmark of the reserve and VIP-guests are often brought there. For this, a visit center was even built there with the money of the Norilsk Nickel company.

According to other sources, the tragedy occurred at the Kitabo-Oron waterfall on the Irkingda River, which is located in the western part of the reserve. Tourists are taken there only by helicopter. The places there are dangerous. According to an experienced instructor, people are brought in to walk a little with a guide, take a photo and fly back by helicopter. In neither case are we talking about teachings.

If we talk about the place near the waterfalls, then it really could be dangerous. The instructor told what Kitabo-Oron looks like:

"Yes, this is a powerful waterfall. Tourists are taken to it by helicopters. It is considered one of the attractions of the Putorana plateau. It is a flat cliff and a drain of 30 meters. Of course, you cannot approach the edge of this waterfall. Now it is raining, it is cold. the Putorana plateau is already starting winter, the first fresh snow has fallen. Now there is about +5. Icy water, the rocks are wet. I always say that you cannot come closer than five meters to the cliff. The fact is that from the very power of the water near the waterfall begins Perhaps this is what happened to the deceased operator. I noticed it myself. There is a feeling that even the rocks are shaking - such power. Dizziness near the waterfall happens often. Near the river bed there are areas of slippery stones. In general, there are splashes in the same place. the water is everywhere, all the stones are wet. But the water also grinds the stone, so it becomes smooth and slippery".

It is already known that no one went to the place before the arrival of the minister on the day of the incident. Inspection of the waterfall was actually spontaneous. The actions of the local authorities immediately after the tragedy also raise questions. The incident from Norilsk was reported to Moscow only a couple of hours later, although the director Alexander Melnik and Yevgeny Zinichev were taken to the Norilsk city hospital. This suggests that the version of what happened was discussed and carefully worked out. It is also interesting that the head of the RT TV channel Margarita Simonyan, close to the Kremlin, reported the incident. Our sources in the Ministry of Emergency Situations are also surprised that the Information Policy Department has not yet notified the employees about the details of the death of the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations: "For some reason, all information about the version of death comes only from Simonyan, and this is not discussed".

Recall: according to the official version, which was first voiced by the head of RT, Yevgeny Zinichev died while shooting a video for the Ministry of Emergencies. The operator slipped on the edge of the cliff and began to fall, Zinichev tried to grab him and fell off the cliff. Both died.

The deceased director and screenwriter Alexander Melnik was a prominent figure among journalists and filmmakers. Melnik is a laureate of the Nika Prize, a member of the Guild of Russian Filmmakers, the author of the famous films Territory and Novaya Zemlya. He traveled a lot on various expeditions and recently actively collaborated with the Ministry of Emergencies. Alexander has three children.

By the evening of September 8, reports began to appear that the circumstances of the tragedy may differ from Simonyan's version. So, the source of Readovka said that it was the deceased operator who tried to save the minister who fell into the abyss, and not vice versa. Yevgeny Zinichev allegedly slipped, going to the edge of the waterfall: now there is ice on Kitabo-Oroon. Also, information appeared on Internet forums, according to which men fell simultaneously from a height of a 7-8 storey building:

“On the fateful morning after the exercises, the helicopter brought the top of the emergency department to one of the most beautiful places on the Putoran plateau. The height of the Kitabo-Oron waterfall, located in the protected area of the reserve, is 27 meters. The minister's retinue (in addition to security) included: his deputy Andrei Gurovich, chief of staff Vadim Soinikov and adviser to the minister for sports Andrei Merzlikin. Also with the campaign was a friend of the minister, director Andrei Melnik, who was present at the exercises. Experienced rescuers say that it is better not to climb the waterfalls of the Irkingdy River without equipment, at least without reliable shoes and poles. As a result, at the top, events moved rapidly. Zinichev, together with Melnik, approached the cliff, one stumbled and lost his balance, the other tried to grab his clothes, but also could not resist on the wet stones. The men simultaneously fell from the height of a 7-8-storey building. They were taken out by the participants of the excursion. According to the source, even then there was a fear of informing Moscow about the death of the federal minister. Zinichev and Melnik were sent by helicopter to the regional hospital in Norilsk. About two hours passed from the moment of the fall to the moment of the report to the presidential administration. All this time, officials, experienced in hardware games, formed a coherent version of events. As a result, Gurovich called the AP, who told the version that everyone had heard: Zinichev died during the exercise, saving the operator, jumped off a cliff. Simply no one wanted to answer the obvious questions: how did it happen that large departmental exercises ended with a walk around the reserve; who invited the minister for an excursion; who carried out security measures during it ”.

Be that as it may, it is still not clear why the Minister of Emergency Situations was not at the exercises, but on the edge of a cliff, and why he helped to shoot a movie instead of leading these very exercises. It is also not clear why the minister's security did not stop him and inspect the object in advance. The question remains whether there was any security with the minister at all. If not, then it turns out that the trip to the famous waterfall was tourist, private?

After the journalists began to ask these questions, the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov called all the alternative versions of the death of the head of the Russian Emergencies Ministry Yevgeny Zinichev blasphemous fabrications. He pointed out that there is only one real version of the death of the head of the Russian Emergencies Ministry, and it has been officially announced.

“Everything else is already quite blasphemous, untrue fabrications”, - he said. Peskov did not answer the clarifying question whether the tragedy occurred during the departmental exercises.

Of course, it is no longer important who saved whom and under what circumstances the tragedy occurred. But why keep silent about the answers to obvious questions? Or is it less honorable to die outside the exercise?