One year since the plane crashed over Sinai. Lost flight: what is known about the causes of the A321 crash a year later. Birthday gift

On the morning of October 31, 2015, the largest in history occurred domestic aviation catastrophe. The plane of the Russian company Kogalymavia took off from the Egyptian Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg, but was blown up by terrorists over the Sinai Peninsula. 224 people on board died - children, wives, husbands, fathers, mothers... Many of them, before departure, left photographs and notes on their pages on social networks, which involuntarily became farewell notes.

The Airbus A321 airliner was performing chartered flight 7K-9268 on the route Sharm el-Sheikh - St. Petersburg. 23 minutes after takeoff, radio contact with the crew was lost, and the airliner itself disappeared from radar. Egyptian search teams discovered the wreckage of the plane near the town of Nehel. All people on board the plane, including 25 children and 7 crew members, were killed.

The cause of the tragedy, according to the Russian FSB, was a terrorist attack for which the international terrorist group “Islamic State”, banned in the Russian Federation, took responsibility. As experts later established, an improvised explosive device was planted in the compartment oversized luggage at the tail of the plane. The explosion led to the complete destruction of the aircraft. By the time the fragments of the aircraft hit the ground, almost all the people on board had already died from barotrauma.

Most passengers tragic flight were residents of North-West Russia, mainly from St. Petersburg, Leningrad, Novgorod and Pskov regions. Also on board were four citizens of Ukraine and one citizen of Belarus.

The people who boarded the liner were young and full of vitality. Some of them celebrated their wedding anniversary in Egypt, others decided to celebrate their birthday in southern country. Many went to the resort with their entire families, with children. And so they died - all together. There were also those who decided to go on holiday abroad for the first time. And this trip was the last...

“I know I won’t come back”

Spouses Olga and Yuri Shein celebrated ten years of marriage in Egypt - the whole family flew with three children: 11-year-old Zhenya, 10-year-old Leroy and 3-year-old Nastya. Last photo, posted on social networks, captured the father of the family climbing the plane. In his arms is his daughter Nastya. The caption under the photo “We are flying home” was made 11 minutes before departure. They never returned home...

The young Gromov family from the city of Gatchina died in the disaster Leningrad region. The youngest passenger on the flight was their daughter, ten-month-old Darina. Before flying out on vacation, the baby's mother published a photo of the child standing near the glass at the St. Petersburg airport and carefully watching the planes. " Main passenger“,” Tatyana Gromova touchingly signed a photo of her baby. It was this photograph, published by many world publications, that became a visual symbol of the A321 tragedy. The baby's body was found by rescuers 30-35 km from the epicenter of the crash.

Vladimir and Victoria Golenkov went to the sea with their little daughter Diana. She was only four years old. On the social network, Vladimir’s page published footage of a happy family life.

Among the dead was the deputy head of the city of Pskov and deputy of the Pskov City Duma Alexander Kopylov. He gave the trip to his wife for her birthday. Together they died...

“I’m still waiting for my daughter”

Irina Evgenievna found strength and told us about that terrible day when she lost her only daughter, Elvira Voskresenskaya. The 28-year-old girl worked at the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in St. Petersburg as an inspector in the supervisory activities department. I went on vacation with a friend. Irina Zakharova learned about the plane crash from her brother when she and her husband were going to the airport to meet their daughter.

In the morning, completely calmly, without any bad thoughts, we began to get ready for the dacha, which is located not far from Pulkovo. Just in time to meet you at the airport on the way home. Our daughter’s husband could not meet us - he is also an employee of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and that day he had just taken duty for a day. When we had already reached the ring road, my brother called me to clarify whether my daughter had arrived or not. I said that she was arriving today at 12 o'clock. He says: “What flight is she flying?” I say I don't know which one. He, apparently not yet assessing the situation, says: “You know, some plane disappeared from radar over Sinai. Where is she flying from? I say from Sharm el-Sheikh. He says: “You know, some plane that took off from Sharm el-Sheikh disappeared from the radar”...

I don't even want to remember what happened. It’s just that at the first moment there were thoughts in my head that this was not her plane. Yes, this cannot be! This is not her flight. There is more than one flight, and this is not about her at all. Then I called her husband, since he also works in the Ministry of Emergency Situations and knows everything. Then those terrible hours of waiting, which turned into days. My daughter's husband was there from the very beginning to the end - he was replaced at work. I couldn’t go to Pulkovo - I don’t even know how I survived. My dad went and took a DNA test.

Actually, I still don’t believe it. It seems to me that this is not about her, she is somewhere and simply cannot return yet.

The first moment when the lists appeared, she was not on them... It’s hard to remember. Even though we knew that our loved ones were on that plane, every day we waited for news whether we were on the lists of those identified. This is the worst thing when, having lost a loved one, you cannot even bury the remains so that you can come and venerate them.

Hope faded away gradually, but it did not fade away, I am still waiting for my daughter. It seems to me that someday this terrible dream will end. Therefore, when I do something now, it seems to me that this is not about us, not about our family, not about our daughter. This simply cannot happen, she could not leave us with dad.

She was very caring and worried about our health. She didn’t even want to live separately from us when she got married. She had a dream to build her own house, in one half of which we would live, in the other - she and her husband.

She was very positive and goal oriented. She was always in a hurry, always on the move, driving quickly. Speed ​​in general meant a lot to her. She was always late for something because she had a lot of plans. I wanted to master everything as quickly as possible. I took a motorcycle driving course. She and my dad had a dream, secret from me: they wanted to buy a good motorcycle for both of them.

She was feminine, but with a masculine character. I never whined, I tried my best weak sides hide. She was strong. And I tried to help everyone as much as I could. Relatives came to us from Donetsk, from the demarcation line. With three children, they fled from this war. She took upon herself all the care of these children. Just before flying on vacation, she became the godmother of the little girl Anastasia. She said that now she will also have to think about her children. I really wanted to have my own children. This was her dream because two years ago she lost her twins due to premature birth.

But then she planned to entrust the children to me and work - she wanted to reach certain heights in her profession. She told her father: “Dad, you are the major, and I will be the general!” She liked her job. It’s my dad and I’s pride that we raised her to be a real person.

“We have a lot of caring people”

The first emotions of people who have lost their loved ones are shock, tears, and non-acceptance of what happened. Then - identification in the morgue of the few who could be identified visually. Then there is the painfully long wait for the results of DNA testing of those whose remains could not be identified. For some relatives, this nightmare is still not over - six victims of the disaster have still not been identified. Their relatives hope for the results of the latest genetic examinations.

In total there are about 200 unidentified body fragments.

“The Egyptian services have remains that were found during the laying out of the plane. When they are transferred to the Investigative Committee, a genetic examination will be carried out. We are waiting for its results to understand whether we have the right to bury the existing remains,” Zakharova explained. The relatives of the victims intend to bury all unidentified remains in a mass grave.

Irina Evgenievna noted the support of caring townspeople in the first mournful days; human solidarity continues to be felt to this day.

“This deserves a huge amount of gratitude. In the first days, we saw how people rallied and worried. Until now, those who knew our dead relatives are always with us. The graves are always buried in flowers, and candles are burning, people come constantly. It is great happiness that we have many caring people. I think it was stressful for everyone at first. Anyone could find themselves in this situation. At Pulkovo, a plane takes off and lands every 10-15 minutes. So many people use this type of transport every day, so many people use other modes of transport. Terrorism has no borders. At that moment, people were shocked, and everyone tried this situation on themselves. Therefore, everyone was very scared and in pain,” added Irina Zakharova.

According to her, the relatives of the victims communicated on social networks in the first months to exchange the slightest new information. After most of the funeral was completed, people gathered to decide what they planned to do in memory of their loved ones. At the very first meeting, the idea of ​​​​building a temple was expressed. It will be built at the intersection of Matisov and the Dudergof Canal on the territory of the Baltic Pearl microdistrict in the Krasnoselsky district of St. Petersburg. The future rector of the Church of St. Demetrius of Thessalonica, in memory of the victims of the A321 disaster, Father Sergei lost his friend in this tragedy.

As Irina Zakharova says,

“the temple will contain a small atrium, where the names of our loved ones, possibly photographs, will be placed”

“A lot of children were left without parents. They will be able to come there. We want to build a house for 224 souls and their relatives. So that this house can live a full life. This will be the best memory of our loved ones. Because it will include not only the memory of them, but also care for the living,” added the interlocutor of the REGNUM news agency.

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 .

Egyptian authorities officially confirmed the plane crash and began searching for the wreckage with army forces, while Turkish aviation authorities reported that the airliner had entered their air space. 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 emergency landing- however, this information has not yet been confirmed.

Note that many pilots and aviation experts, speaking about plane crashes, they reminded that an engine failure (without destroying the engine or the plane) 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 - the media also recall the emergency landing of the Tu-204, and "Gimli glider").

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

State of emergency declared in North Sinai in Egypt due to crash 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.

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 representative civil aviation.

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 Russian airliner airline "Kogalymavia" crashed 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 the 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 Ayman al-Mugadem, a spokesman for the Egyptian Aircraft Incident Investigation Committee, 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.

Flight 9268 departed on its last flight at 03:50:06 UTC (05:50:06 local time and 06:50:06 Moscow time). At 04:13:00 the airliner sharply dropped in altitude and then disappeared from radar.

Shortly before the accident, the aircraft commander requested permission from ground services to emergency landing in Cairo due to technical problems. However, it was no longer possible to save the aircraft. The wreckage of the airliner was discovered near the city of El-Arish - they were scattered over 13 km in an ellipse-shaped area, the area of ​​which reached 30 square meters. km.

There were 224 people on board the crashed Airbus 321, seven of them crew members. Egyptian rescuers at the scene initially reported hearing people groaning under the rubble and said they hoped to find someone who had survived, but it soon became known that no one had survived. Most of the plane's passengers were tourists returning to Russia after a holiday in Egypt. The vast majority of those on board the plane were Russians, but there were three citizens of Ukraine and one Belarusian citizen.

Among the dead were the deputy head of Pskov, who was returning from vacation with his common-law wife, as well as a participant in the TV show “Top Model in Russian” Elena Domashnyaya from St. Petersburg. 24 children died.

The youngest passenger was only ten months old; her photograph, published by many world publications, became a symbol of the tragedy over the Sinai.

Causes

In the first days after the disaster, conflicting information was received about the possible causes of the crash. Thus, Egyptian authorities said that the crew of the Airbus 321 complained of engine problems. They also put forward a version of a technical malfunction as one of the main ones. Egypt's preliminary report late last year made no mention of a terrorist attack on board the ship.

However, all evidence pointed to the contrary.

A few hours after the accident, militants from the Islamic State banned in Russia took responsibility for the explosion.

The organizer of the explosion was called Abu Osama al-Masri, the leader of the Vilayat Sinai group, considered to be. Later, through media friendly to them, the terrorists showed photographs of an explosive device - it turned out to be a homemade bomb made from an ordinary aluminum can. ISIS militants also claimed that they were able to smuggle the device on board the plane after they found a loophole in the security system at Sharm el-Sheikh airport.

On the evening of November 16, Vladimir Putin, at a meeting following the investigation into the causes of the plane crash, said that Russia would find and punish the organizers of the terrorist attack.

“The murder of our people in Sinai is among the bloodiest in terms of the number of crime victims. And we will not wipe away the tears from our souls and hearts. This will stay with us forever. But this will not stop us from finding and punishing the criminals,” the president emphasized. - We must do this without a statute of limitations, know them all by name. We will look for them wherever they are hiding. We will find them anywhere on the planet and punish them.”

In addition, Putin ordered increased air strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria. After this order, the aviation group of the Russian Air Force in Syria was strengthened, and long-range aircraft were also involved in the bombing. “Our combat aviation work in Syria must not only be continued. It must be strengthened in such a way that criminals understand that retribution is inevitable,” the president added.

"Garden of Memory"

The day before, October 30, a foundation stone was installed on Rumbolovskaya Mountain in the Leningrad Region at the site of the future monument to the victims of the “Garden of Memory” tragedy. “We plan to plant 224 trees here, according to the number of people killed in the terrorist attack over Sinai. And this garden, the “Garden of Memory,” will bloom every year, will live. And the memory of relatives, friends and fellow countrymen who flew on flight 9268 will live in our hearts,” said the regional governor.

The “Garden of Memory” project, developed by students of the St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering, is a corridor of slabs and metal structures with the names of all those killed in the plane crash with elements of landscape design. Thanks to the lighting system, the monument will be visible in dark time days driving along the Road of Life (today it is official name Highway A128 St. Petersburg - Morier). The grand opening of the “Garden of Memory” will take place a year later, on the eve of the second anniversary of the Egyptian tragedy.

The day before, relatives of the victims literally covered the monument laid in St. Petersburg with flowers.

They don’t have long to wait for the first results of the investigation into the tragedy over Sinai: the preliminary results of the investigation, according to a source of the Egyptian newspaper Al-Watan in the Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation, will be published within the next 60 days.

Two years ago, on October 31, 2015, an A-321 plane crashed over the Sinai Peninsula (Egypt). All 224 people on board were killed. 25 of them are children.

At the time of the tragedy, 48 people from the Leningrad region, including four children, were flying on flight 9268 from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg. These are residents of the villages of Sovetsky, Gostilitsy, Romanovka, residents of Shlisselburg, Vsevolozhsk, Gatchina, Vyborg, Sosnovy Bor, Slantsy, Volkhov.

Has disappeared from the radar screens

At 7:14 a.m., the Kogalymavia airline A-321, flying from Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt to St. Petersburg, disappeared from radar screens 20 minutes after takeoff. There are 217 passengers and 7 crew members on board. Of these, four are Ukrainians, one is Belarusian, and all the rest are Russians.

At 7:14 near Larnaca, according to preliminary data, communication with the plane was lost, and the aircraft's mark disappeared from the radar screens.

Rosaviatsia



Catastrophe

A couple of hours later, Egyptian authorities confirmed the crash of a Russian plane in central Sinai.

The liner was completely destroyed, its debris scattered over an area of ​​13 kilometers. 40 ambulances arrived at the crash site to evacuate victims of the disaster.

According to rescuers, the chances of finding survivors are extremely low.


Everyone died

Reuters reported four survivors. Hope quickly faded - official data arrived. Everyone died.

The smallest victim in terms of age, but not in importance, was 10-month-old Darina Gromova from Gatchina. A photo of her against the background of the liners, which the girl’s mother took before being sent to Egyptian resort, will become a symbol of the Sinai tragedy.

The child looks at the planes standing on the ground. The caption under the photo is “Main Passenger.”

Darina's father and mother were also on board the A-321 and died along with her.

Grief and Unity

The tragedy left no one indifferent. In Pulkovo and to the Alexander Column, people brought flowers, letters of condolences and children's toys. There are so many of them that later hundreds of workers will be needed to remove all the spontaneous memorials.

To the sky on Palace Square released hundreds balloons in memory of the dead.

About the causes of the disaster

Soon after the tragedy, different versions of what happened began to appear.


- Pilot error

The crew was commanded by 48-year-old Valery Nemov, who has over 12 thousand flight hours, of which more than 3,860 were on the Airbus A321. The aircraft was flown by experienced and highly qualified pilots. The version of pilot error was ruled out.


- Technical problem

Before departure, the aircraft underwent maintenance. No faults found.


- Terrorist attack

The head of the Russian FSB, Alexander Bortnikov, puts forward the first official version— the disaster occurred as a result of a terrorist attack.

A homemade explosive device with a capacity of up to 1 kg of TNT went off. Traces of explosives were found on the wreckage of the plane.

Later, the Russian side will announce a reward of $50 million for information about the terrorists.

The murder of our people in Sinai is among the bloodiest in terms of the number of crime victims. And we will not wipe away the tears from our souls and hearts. This will stay with us forever. But this will not stop us from finding and punishing the criminals.

Vladimir Putin

It is still unclear who ordered the terrible crime. No performers found. According to the most common version, the Sinai branch of the Islamic State (*terrorist organization banned in Russia) was behind the terrorist attack.


Putin: stop flights to Egypt until “the proper level of aviation safety is established”

In November 2015, Russian authorities completely blocked air traffic with Egypt. Remaining in Arab country The tourists were taken out at the end of their tours. You were only allowed to take on board the plane hand luggage, the luggage of passengers was taken out by special flights of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

Also, flights with Egypt were interrupted by Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and a number of German airlines.


"Kogalymavia"

In the spring of 2016, the Federal Air Transport Agency banned internal and international flights airline, despite the fact that its involvement in the tragic incident has not been proven.

Relatives of those killed in the plane crash over Sinai have filed a class action lawsuit against the tour operator Kogalymavia airline in the amount of €1.4 billion.

Memory of an interrupted flight

On the eve of the second anniversary of the tragedy, October 28, a monument to the victims of the disaster was unveiled at the Serafimovskoye cemetery in St. Petersburg.

The monument was named “Folded Wings”. On one is the flight number, on the other is the date of the disaster. In front of them is a sarcophagus with a note: “To the crew members and passengers of flight 7K9268 who died at the hands of terrorists on October 31, 2015 in the skies over Sinai (Egypt).”

Meanwhile, today, October 31, a “Garden of Memory” was opened on Rumbolovskaya Gora in the Vsevolozhsk district of the Leningrad region for the victims of the terrorist attack. The memorial is a corridor made of metal plates on which the names of all the victims are carved.

The monument is surrounded by red-leaved maples. 25 fir trees are planted separately, they symbolize the memory of the dead children.

The Russian FSB classifies the incident as a terrorist attack, and the investigation is still ongoing. Air traffic between Russia and Egypt was stopped after the disaster and has not resumed to this day.

On the morning of October 31 at 05:50 local time (06:50 Moscow time), the plane, flying flight 7K-9268 of the Russian airline Kogalymavia, took off from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg. 23 minutes after takeoff, when the plane reached an altitude of 9.4 thousand meters, an explosive device went off in the tail section. The plane split in two, the cabin depressurized and the systems completely shut down - the airliner rushed down. Two minutes after the explosion, the plane crashed to the ground at high speed in the central part of the Sinai Peninsula. All 224 people on board, including 25 children, were killed. Three hours after the crash, the local affiliate of the Islamic State* claimed responsibility for the attack.

  • Airplane wreckage
  • Reuters

« The magical land took them for itself"

Irina Barinova lost three loved ones in the disaster: her cousin Lyubov Mozgina with her one-year-old daughter Alisa and mother Galina Zamolotova were returning from vacation to St. Petersburg.

“Lyuba dreamed of showing Alice the country that she herself was madly in love with,” says Irina. “She and her mother were so happy that Alice would see a magical land where there was the Red Sea, the sun, and the pyramids. But Wonderland took them for myself."

According to Irina, Lyubov was not used to counting on anyone other than herself in life: she worked hard, bought a car and an apartment in St. Petersburg.

“Lyuba herself is from the Novgorod region, she graduated from school there and in 1993 she came to go to college in St. Petersburg. A simple girl from the village, she studied and worked seven days a week. She spent days and nights preparing, always drawing something. In the morning it’s college, and in the evening and on weekends it’s work. She tried to achieve everything herself and really wanted to help her parents.”

After graduation, Lyubov got a job at a construction company as an estimator, but most of all she wanted to work at Lenenergo. “She sent her resume there and did not expect to receive an invitation to an interview, but her dream came true! Last years Lyuba worked at Lenenergo in her life and was in good standing with management,” recalls Irina.

RT’s interlocutor told how in 2013 she and Lyubov managed to relax in Lazarevskoye: “We walked together, swam in the sea, and then Lyuba said that she would soon become a mother. It was such a joy - beyond words! Lyuba knew from the first day that it would be a girl, and from the first day she called her by name - Alisa. All the pain in my soul cannot be expressed in words. I still can't believe it. All we can do is love them and miss them."

“Who would have thought that this was the last time I would see them?”

The tragedy over Sinai took away Galina Panchenko’s only daughter, 23-year-old Vlada, and her husband Ilya Sakerin. “They met in 2010, when Vlada graduated from school, and since then they have never been apart. We organized our own wedding and were truly happy. The three of us lived, and even with three cats - Vlada and Ilya loved animals very much. They were fond of fishing, often traveled to Karelia and even brought me fish. We rode bicycles from St. Petersburg to Lomonosov - and this is quite a distance. They were so happy about life, dreamed of buying an apartment, planned to have children.”

  • Reuters

This trip to Egypt was the third for the young Sakerin family. They went on vacation for just a week - they were in a hurry to get back in time for Vlada’s father’s birthday. Galina then accompanied the children to the airport. “Who would have thought that I would see them for the last time,” she laments.

Galina could not stay in her homeland after what happened - everything reminded her of the dead children. The decision to move to the United States permanently was not easy.

“I was left completely alone. I still can't come to terms with this. Unbearable pain. Every day I wake up and go to sleep thinking about them.”

  • Airbus A321 wreckage
  • RIA News

Experience the pain together

Irina Zakharova and her husband lost their only daughter in the disaster. Elvira Voskresenskaya was 28 years old.

“I can’t say about my daughter that she was. For me, she is my daughter. She was a long-awaited beloved child. The father, being a career military man, dreamed all his life about his son as the continuer of his path. When his daughter was born, at first he was somewhat disappointed, but then, already in adulthood, he was inspired and realized that his daughter became the continuer of his whole life and all his endeavors. She chose a university associated with military service and put on shoulder straps. This year she was supposed to receive the rank of major. For my father and me, she was the center of the universe. We lived by her interests, and she — ours", — Irina says, holding back tears with difficulty.

A year ago, relatives and friends of those killed in a plane crash over Sinai united in a group on a social network in which they exchanged information about the progress of the investigation and supported each other. The organizer of the group was Alexander Voitenko. On board the Airbus 321 was his elder sister Irina with her daughter Alisa.

“I realized that I cannot remain silent about what happened, I cannot keep it to myself and suffer within myself. I decided to tell everyone about how I feel, what is happening around this disaster. It was possible to unite not only relatives, but also sympathizers. We created a group on the social network, which currently has more than 36 thousand people. This is already a big family, a whole movement.”

  • Reuters

The group of united relatives eventually grew into the Flight 9268 charitable foundation.

“After all the funerals were over, we met for the first time in January. I remember there were about 30 of us, — recalls Alexander Voitenko, who became the executive director of the Flight 9268 Foundation. — We immediately decided that we needed our own charitable foundation to solve legal issues related to donations. It was necessary to structure the needs.”

Irina Zakharova became chairman of the foundation's board. When asked why she decided to engage in charitable activities, Irina, the director of a school in St. Petersburg, replies:

“It’s very difficult to understand why I was doing this because I felt like I wouldn’t survive. But it turned out that I not only survived, but also became involved in the activities of the foundation. It means that I haven’t accomplished something in my life yet, since I got this.”

Irina talks about how difficult it is to come to terms with the loss of loved ones: “I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, whether I will be alive. Over the past year, six people, relatives of the victims, have died, mostly due to heart attacks.”

  • RIA News

Flight 9268 cooperates with other organizations - for example, with the Interrupted Flight Foundation, which was organized 10 years ago in memory of those killed in the crash of the airliner on the Anapa-St. Petersburg flight on August 22, 2006.

“We are planning to conduct a mass burial of remains that cannot be identified. Now they are in the city crematorium,” says Irina. “The examination confirmed that among these remains there is a piece of each passenger on the plane, but they are so mixed that it is almost impossible to separate. We collect signatures from loved ones agreeing to the burial. It will be very difficult to go through a second funeral.”

  • Figures of cranes at a rally in memory of the victims of the plane crash over the Sinai in the Peter and Paul Fortress
  • RIA News

Irina and Alexander said that the foundation plans to build a temple in St. Petersburg, inside of which there will be an atrium with photographs of the victims of the plane crash.

Kristina Oleneva, Yulia Gureeva, Maria Bukharova

  • Anniversary of the Sinai tragedy: relatives of the dead passengers remember their loved ones

* “Islamic State” is a terrorist organization banned in Russia.

 

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