Lyudmila Korovina, a 41-year-old survivalist and hiking instructor, was highly respected by her colleagues and students. She was known as a survival expert.

In the summer of 1993, she decided to plan a hike to the Khamar Daban mountain range in Siberia with six of her best students, familiar with the area, which was a popular tourist spot and considered a safe hiking destination.

The six students were Aleksander (Sacha) Krysin, 23, Timur Bapanov (15), Viktoriya Zalesova (16), Valentina Utochenko (17), Tatyana Filipenko (24), and Denis Shvachkin (19).

Arriving at the mountain range on August 2, 1993, the seven were excited to begin their journey, encouraged by the promise of clear, sunny skies according to the weather forecast. Although the first two days of the hike went more smoothly than expected, on August 4, as they began their descent, the weather forecast proved inaccurate and the group encountered heavy rains. The additional weight of the wet supplies slowed each hiker’s progress, and despite the availability of nearby tree cover, Lyudmila hastily chose to set up camp in an open area due to the group’s fatigue. That night, the group failed to light a fire, but remained in good spirits. The next morning, they managed to light a campfire and shared breakfast before setting out for the day. Later that day, Lyudmila’s daughter Natalia, also a mountain guide, and her group reached a rendezvous point with her mother’s group, but Lyudmila and her students were not there. Natalia, however, was not concerned and assumed her mother had been delayed due to the inclement weather. Unfortunately, the reality was much more sinister.

On August 10, a group of kayakers paddling down the river at the base of the Khamar Daban mountains noticed something along the tree line. A lone girl was standing and staring at them. When the kayakers approached the girl, they realized she was covered in blood, and she immediately burst into tears. It was Valentina Utochenko, and she claimed to be the only survivor from her hiking group. Frightened, the kayakers took the girl to the local police station, where it took her several days to recount the events of what had happened.

According to the girl, after breakfast, the group began to descend the mountain, but shortly thereafter something strange happened. Sacha, who was at the back of the group, began screaming. When everyone turned to look at him, he was foaming at the mouth and bleeding from his eyes and ears. He fell to the ground in convulsions. Lyudmila ran to her aid and ordered the others to continue and find help.

Lyudmila was deeply distressed and desperately tried to revive Sacha, but she too began to show the same symptoms. The rest of the group was not far away when they heard Lyudmila's screams and quickly returned to help. They found Lyudmila bleeding from her eyes and nose while she was foaming at the mouth and shaking uncontrollably.

Tatyana, the first to reach Lyudmila, also began to show symptoms and began clutching her throat as if struggling to breathe. She then ran to a nearby rock and banged her head against it repeatedly until she lost consciousness. Denis took cover behind a rock while Timur and Viktoriya ran away, but collapsed while still running and died in a similar manner, tearing their clothes, coughing up blood and clawing at their throats. Valentina and Denis then also ran from the area but Denis immediately collapsed as well.

In a state of panic, Valentina fled, leaving her friends behind with only a tent and the clothes on her back. She rushed down the mountain to put as much distance as possible between herself and whatever was harming her friends. She camped out for the night under some trees and fell asleep. She then spent the next four days following power lines down the mountain, hoping someone would find her. Eventually, she came across a river and decided to follow it. On the fourth day of her journey, canoeists found and rescued her.

Although a police report was filed, no formal search was conducted until August 24. The autopsy report revealed that all of the hikers, except Lyudmila who suffered a heart attack, died of hypothermia. They were also found to have bruised lungs, but the cause of death was determined to be a protein deficiency resulting from starvation and extreme hypothermia. Their deaths were concluded to be accidental, despite the fact that they were well fed and sheltered.

According to many researchers, Valentina's symptoms are indicative of death from chemical weapons, specifically nerve agents, as convulsions and foaming at the mouth are common symptoms of a powerful nerve toxin. The autopsy results are consistent with this theory as bruising of the lungs is a common sign of death from nerve gas, which can cause difficulty breathing. Additionally, nerve agents can trigger cardiac arrest, which is the cause of Lyudmila's death. While the other hikers may have died from hypothermia, they may have lost consciousness or fallen into a coma due to exposure to nerve toxins, leading to hypothermia as the possible cause of death. It is possible that the hikers ingested poisonous substances through the water, which may have been contaminated due to the disposal of toxic waste in Lake Baikal, located high in the mountains. The hikers' meal could have been contaminated with lethal chemicals if the waste was carried downstream in the water. It is also possible that the toxic chemicals fell during heavy rain. Valentina, however, could have survived by consuming less water or finding an alternative source. The other hikers may have died from the poisonous substances because the most powerful toxins take a few minutes to work.

Another theory involves toxic mushrooms. Lyudmila was a skilled gatherer who taught her companions the trade. It is possible that one of the hikers mistakenly picked a toxic mushroom for breakfast, causing poisoning that manifested itself once they started walking, causing hallucinations. It is in fact known that one of the hallucinations caused by mushrooms is seeing people cry blood. Whether the hikers were experiencing severe hallucinations or were in a coma, they likely died from hypothermia due to their altered state.

Again, we will never know the truth. Continue reading