It became known whether the missing boy Maxim Markhaluk was found in Belovezhskaya Pushcha. All versions of the boy's disappearance in Belovezhskaya Pushcha Conspiracy version: something doesn't fit here

For the first time in my life, I indifferently passed by mushrooms - there are a lot of them in the Svisloch region. But we were not looking for mushrooms: 10-year-old Maxim Markhaliuk left home on September 16, and the boy's whereabouts are still unknown. This search has already been called the largest rescue operation in the country. The Ministry of Emergency Situations, the police, the military, employees of forestries and the National Academy of Sciences, local residents and hundreds of volunteers - in the small agricultural town of Novy Dvor, everyone was united by a big misfortune.

If you see wild animals, stop

I found the contacts of Andrey Vorobyov, a resident of Minsk, in the group of the Angel search and rescue squad: there are tables on social networks for volunteers who gather in Novy Dvor from different parts of the country. Those who cannot set off on a journey pass food, things, medicines, necessary equipment through fellow travelers. For the rest, drivers report the number of empty seats in the car, the time of departure and the phone number. A conversation with a stranger takes no more than a minute:

Andrey, can I go with you?

Missing Maksim Markhaluk

On Friday morning we are on our way to the Grodno region. All four in this car have the same answer to the question "Why?". Otherwise, we are parents ourselves. Spouses Andrey and Anna left the kids to their grandmother, designer Alexander - with his wife:

- My child is ten years old, like Maxim. Yesterday I solved all work issues, asked for leave. Didn't explain where. Superfluous.

At the entrance to Novy Dvor along the highway, dozens of cars are parked in a long line - there are no passengers in them, everything is in the forest. The newly arrived volunteers first go to the center of the agro-town: here in the Novodvorsky village council a situational headquarters is set up, and tents of the Red Cross stand nearby on the street. Newcomers are registered by Ekaterina Makarenko:

– At 11:00 am, there are 398 people on the list. Svisloch, Volkovysk, Grodno, Pruzhany, Brest, Kobrin, Soligorsk, Minsk, Molodechno, Gomel - it seems that the whole country has gathered here. Those who could not come were given packages with food, warm clothes, batteries, office supplies. The locals are very helpful, preparing hot meals.

An operational meeting is being held in the village council building, after which instructions will be given in which directions to move. In the meantime, volunteers are divided into groups, provided with printouts of maps and orientations, and instructed:

- It is advisable to download the navigator. Communication in the forest can be lost, so stick to your neighbors. No one enters the forest one at a time - only at the command of the leaders. Prompt, but do not swear. If you notice traces, things, stop the line. Stop when you see wild animals.

There are no foreign children

While waiting for the start, the volunteers discuss only one topic: where can Maxim be? Frightened by the animals and went deep into the thicket? Or maybe hiding in a neighboring village? Kidnapped? No matter how terrible the assumptions are, no one loses hope of finding a child.

“If you don’t believe in the best, then you don’t need to go,” says Pavel Blysh, a pre-conscription teacher at Grodno secondary school No. 28. - The guys and I are almost local, from Sokolniki, we navigate in the forest, although we are looking for a person for the first time.

“There are no other people's children,” Elvira, an entrepreneur from Vaukavysk, joins the conversation. - Especially when trouble happens nearby, how can you sit quietly at home here? Everyone in our city is worried. Who did not go, constantly looking through the news, waiting for a good outcome.

Katerina Pochebut has three children, the youngest is not even a year old:

- Today my husband has a “daddy's” day (an additional day off for parents with many children. - Approx. “ZN”), we decided to use it for good. They asked their grandmother to look after the children, and they themselves came here. Grief can happen in any family, it is impossible not to support.

Elena Morozova from Brest was on the search three times in a week:

- 119 kilometers from home one way, not so far, I'm driving. We walked through the forests, through the swamps - it was empty.

“Check well at the dump, it is not far from the place where the bicycle was found,” Vera Denisovna, an old-timer of the village, approaches a group of volunteers. – I used to work as a school teacher, I know that children can hide in such places. I had students who liked to hide in "shovishcha", in the trees. I don’t see any other places, in the forest everything that was possible has already been bypassed. How long I live, I do not remember so many people here.

In the village council on the table is a list with the telephone numbers of local residents who are ready to provide lodging for the night. Since last Saturday, everyone here has been living with one thought - to find Maxim, Yanina Sikor sighs:

– There are just over 600 residents in Novy Dvor, and everyone who can walk is now in the forest. Teachers, workers, foresters, young people are all there. Maxim's parents and older brother also do not sit at home, they are constantly looking. I don't know what could have happened. Nobody got lost in our village.

Every meter is walked in the forest

If he were here...

Helicopters of the Ministry of Emergency Situations fly in the sky over Belovezhskaya Pushcha. On the ground, every inch of the forest near the agro-town is explored by specialists and volunteers. Our group is sent to the neighboring Studeniki and Boyars: it is necessary to check every yard, attics, abandoned sheds and cellars.

The local grandparents do not need to explain what we forgot here:

- We know, children, we cry every day. We have already searched for him, they came on motorcycles - there is no one.

After several hours of searching the villages, we are convinced that the locals are right. We do not find traces of Maxim in the forest near the New Court. In a chain of 20 people we explore the forest - kilometer after kilometer, until the evening. And nothing. Volunteers go home

- Every meter is covered here. The other day they even found a saw that the foresters had lost many years ago. If Maxim were in Pushcha, they would have found him by now.

And yet there is still hope. The search will continue until the result, assures the head of the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Grodno Regional Executive Committee, Police Major General Vadim Sinyavsky:

– We have coordinated the activities of all interested bodies and departments, including volunteers. From the first days, three aircraft of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, drones, more than a thousand people have been involved - searches are ongoing at night. Now all possible versions are being worked out. We hope that the boy is alive and will be found soon.

TO THIS TOPIC

The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case into the disappearance of Maxim Markhaliuk in the Svisloch region. On Tuesday, September 26, ten days have passed since the parents filed an application that the child is missing. All this time, operational-search and search activities were carried out, said the official representative of the Investigative Committee Yulia Goncharova:

- As in all similar situations, the investigators got involved in the work from the first days. I note that all versions are being worked out. However, we have no direct reason to say that the disappearance of the boy is of a criminal nature. We ourselves hope for the best.

Ten year old Maxim. He went missing a week ago. About two thousand people comb every meter of the forest day and night. The search was complicated by rain. There is also a version that Maxim could have been frightened of wild animals and run away into the thicket, MIR 24 correspondent Yevgenia Nazarova reports.

“I saw a herd of bison - we saw fresh tracks not far from the bike. This, probably, provoked a fright and he went off somewhere, and in what direction, (it is not known), ”says Stepan Goncharevich, a participant in the search operation.

The perimeter of the search for the missing child has been expanded to 40 kilometers. They check the neighborhood of the village of Novy Dvor, where Maxim was last seen. They flew around on helicopters of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, but it is very difficult to see a child in a dense forest from the air.

“A lot of forests have been felled, a very large amount of windbreak, where a child can hide. Therefore, we make the chains as tight as possible in order to work out each square, ”says the head of the Svisloch District Department of Internal Affairs Valery Romanchuk.

In search of Maxim, every minute is precious. Rescuers say there is a chance of saving him. It is still not very cold in the forest at night. Another hope was given by a service dog, which followed the trail from the dirt road onto the asphalt. “It’s hard, but we don’t give up. We all hope we find this boy.", - says Denis Nechepa, an employee of the Berestovitsky District Department of Internal Affairs.

There are hundreds of such stories. 14-year-old Yana, when there was almost no hope left. Yana from the village of Chindat has already been nicknamed "Krasnoyarsk Mowgli". The schoolgirl spent a whole week in the impassable taiga. Together with her mother and sisters, she went to the forest for berries and got lost. Searched for a long time. They shouted and fired flares. Dogs followed Yana's trail several times. Rescuers found beds where the girl slept. However, Yana was not there - she constantly moved, trying to get out of the taiga on her own.

“No one expected that she could go 15 kilometers. And in the end, we were lucky that she went out into the clearing and there were swamps and a river around. Rescuers walked along the river and shouted. She was about to sleep, but she heard them, responded, and they found her, ”says Yury Yakushev, deputy head of the regional head office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.

Eight-year-old Kirill Petrukhin was more fortunate. His rescuers are much faster after three days of wandering through the forest. It's all about the ice cream. The child went for sweets to a neighboring village and lost his way. “He drove towards the store. He was in the store. The sellers said that he was buying ice cream, sweets", - says the brother of Kirill Petrukhin Vladimir.

Rescuers, police and volunteers were involved in the search. First, they found a broken bicycle, and already nearby - Kirill himself.

For the thirteenth day in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, they have been searching for ten-year-old Maxim Markhaliuk, who went missing. Volunteers and rescuers combed hundreds of hectares of forest, examined huge swamp areas, but so far have not found any new traces.

Volunteers are looking for traces of Maxim

At about 11 am, the headquarters near the village council is almost empty. On the site - two female volunteers and a coordinator. After the weekend, the number of volunteers in Novy Dvor decreased significantly. That is why the day before the Red Cross rolled up its tent and left, promising that it would return as soon as people began to arrive en masse.

Now the headquarters is deserted. The coordinator is responsible for sending everyone on a search, and for bringing lunch on time.

Now the search and rescue squad "Angel" must take care of preparing dinner, and if necessary, provide medical assistance to those who return from the forest.

On September 27, 46 people gathered to search. They came from Grodno, Minsk, Brest and even Gomel regions. Of these, three search groups were organized.

Combing the forest, people line up in long chains and walk slowly, inspecting the territory.

As in the previous days, the guys went to comb the forest in the areas indicated by the leadership of the headquarters. The task has not changed - you need to look for any signs of the boy's presence in the forest. Cores, corn cobs, mushrooms and suspicious items.

Each search party receives such a card.

In the forest, everyone must be in bright vests.

“Each group has an experienced coordinator, the rest line up in a chain, go into the forest and follow the commands of the elder,”- explains the principle of work of the search groups volunteer detachment "Angel" Anastasia Saltykova.

Fantik in the forest - a big joint

If at least someone from the live chain sees something suspicious, they immediately say “stop”. Then the place should be inspected by the leader of the group. Volunteers say that even the buried earth is alarming them.

“I know that village boys can build underground hiding places and dugouts. Finding them is extremely difficult. I always looked to see if the moss was raised,- says volunteer Olga.

A live chain can stretch for a kilometer or more.

During the movement, volunteers are reminded that they need to look not only under their feet, but also up, and also turn around. After all, you can pass and not notice something behind a tree or a high stump. When a group walks through the forest, candy wrappers, water bottles, and cigarette butts must be taken with you.

“If you leave, it’s a big joint. This is strictly prohibited. If they are found during the second combing of the area, then the question arises - whose are they. They can become a false trail,- adds the girl.

A mine as deep as a high-rise building

“Tell me, maybe they found the boy Maxim”?- heard from the radio. The guys sigh sadly and answer: “I really want to, but not yet.”

It's almost 16:00 on the clock, and lunch has just begun at the headquarters. Volunteers pour soup, make sandwiches.

The search group does not begin to dine strictly according to the schedule, but after it examines the assigned territory.

“We got out to chew and immediately shurshim back,”- the man quickly explains to someone on the phone. Nearby, the guys are discussing the trip: “We worked out a military mine. 12 floors down. They went down by six, but didn’t go any further - they realized that there was no point in going deeper.”

The guys look exhausted, they smoke nervously, but they ask the headquarters to quickly give them a new search square.

Ilya, Yegor and Alexander are looking for a child almost around the clock during the week.

“It’s already the seventh day here, or the eighth. Already confused. We sleep in the car. We slept for a couple of hours - and then we went to look,- says Ilya, who came from Minsk.

Everyone admits that they will not be able to sleep peacefully until Maxim is found. In order not to interrupt the search, many took time off or vacation.

Like searching in a swamp

At the morning meeting, the headquarters decided that now more people should be sent to the swamp. Neither volunteers nor journalists are allowed to enter such difficult areas.

The swamps in Novy Dvor are such that fishing boots are indispensable.

These works are performed by experienced rescuers. But a small detachment of volunteers agreed to show how they explore the swampy area. They have already managed to study the local forests quite well. They admit: during the search, sometimes they had to go into the quagmire.

“The swamp here is such that you can sink up to your chest into the water. And this is three kilometers from Novy Dvor,”- says Ilya, when we arrived at the point.

The guys before departure put on high fishing boots, some - rubber overalls. They say that this is not the most difficult section. Employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations are also exploring more unsteady swamps.

Even very close to the road there are deep and swampy places.

It is really difficult to walk through such a forest. In one place - a bump, and next to it - water. The group moved no more than 50 meters from the road, and in the swamp there began to be places where water reaches an adult to the waist and above. Guys say: “We are waist-deep, and the child? But we believe that Maksimka didn’t go here.”

Local Resident: It's Impossible to Get Lost Here

In the meantime, the inhabitants of the New Yard also do not stand aside and, as far as possible, go to the forest. Someone - with the "Angel" group, and someone - on their own.

When asked where Maxim could be, they answer differently. But every day there is less and less support for the version of the police that the boy got lost in the forest. A rumor went around the village that the child could have run away from home and gone in an unknown direction.

“I do not believe that Maxim could get lost in these forests. We checked every meter of the forest around the village and found nothing. Don't you think it's strange?"- says 22-year-old resident of Novy Dvor Vadim.

The guy from the first day in his free time with volunteers and volunteers is looking for Maxim. He was one of the first to know about the missing boy. He recalls that then, on September 16, literally in half an hour, the whole village went up in search. Some walked through the forest, others - on cars and motorcycles went around all the roads, and every 100-150 meters they stopped and called the kid.

“We would definitely find him. If Maxim were in the forest and wanted to respond, he could go out to the people. Here, no matter which way you go, you will definitely end up either on the road or in some village. If he had wandered through the local forests all these 12 days, he would have left long ago or given himself away, ” the guy adds.

The boy could run away

Vadim shows the so-called base, near which on the first day of the loss they found the boy's bicycle and a basket of mushrooms. The base is called a hut knocked together from boards, which serves as a gathering place for village boys. Who built it, no one can remember.

Near the hut, which often visited Maxim. Vadim shows where Maxim's bike was found.

According to Vadim, the found basket did not belong to Maxim. This was confirmed by the parents of the child.

“She has always been here. On the evening of September 16, my mother was returning from the forest, passed by the hut, saw her. It was the so-called obshchak, in this basket the boys collected mushrooms together, and then handed over to the procurement point, ” explains Vadim.

Where the kids spent the money, he does not know. But he names approximate prices: for three kilograms of chanterelles you can get 12 rubles.

The guy is sure that the most plausible version is that the boy left the house on purpose. You need to look for it not in the forest, but in other villages or even cities.

"Angels": looking for a living boy

To date, police report only two pieces of evidence. This is Maxim's bike, which was standing near a hut in the forest about 800 meters from the village. A little later, a witness was found who, on the evening of September 16, saw Maxim or a boy similar to him in the forest south of Novy Dvor, who was sitting near a tree, and then ran away.

“If Maxim had stayed in the forest, they would have found at least something else. The police are not looking there. I think he reached the road and left somewhere,- argue two women at the door of the post office. They are also sure that there is no child in the forest.

"Where is he? Yes, who knows. Maybe someone took away, or maybe he ran away, ”- I hear in response.

The search and rescue squad "Angel" said that they are still considering two main versions - Maxim got lost in the forest or ran away and hides.

“We do not consider the criminal version. The Investigative Committee is working in this direction. We are looking for a living boy,- emphasizes the volunteer "Angel" Yuri Azanovich.

According to him, rescue and search activities will continue until the child is found.

Recall that 10-year-old Maxim Markhaliuk went to the forest for mushrooms on September 16 and still has not returned. Three days later, he was put on the nationwide wanted list. On September 26, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case into the disappearance of the boy. As of 09:00 September 28, Maxim was not found.

More than two thousand people gathered in Belovezhskaya Pushcha on Saturday, who came with the only hope - to find 10-year-old Maxim Markhaliuk as soon as possible. The boy went to the forest for mushrooms on September 16 and still has not returned. The bulk of the volunteers are ordinary Belarusians, who before that only went to the forest to pick mushrooms.

All volunteers were given colorful vests for free.

The correspondent joined one of the search parties and went into the forest.

Previously, they went in crowds, today the tasks are set by the headquarters

At 8 o'clock in the morning, a camp of volunteers was set up at the school stadium in the village of Novy Dvor. Dozens of cars and hundreds of people gathered. Everyone is invited to the loudspeaker to register in the blue tent in the center of the stadium.

The headquarters of the search operation deployed at the stadium of the local school

“Indicate the name, surname, phone number, registration number of the car. Write if you know how to read maps, navigate in the forest, what equipment they brought. If you don't have experience, don't worry, most of them are. We need everything", - volunteers explain and show where you can get a bright vest for free.

The lists are growing every minute. The geography of visitors is amazing - Minsk, Gomel, Brest, Grodno, Mogilev, numerous regional centers. Most admit: "Searching for a person is the first time". But people are ready to go both into the forest and into the swamp - just to find the boy alive.

“During the week, while there was no headquarters, people went into the forest in a crowd, sometimes 180 people at a time. We work in smaller groups - from 10 to 30 people. It’s more productive, so we better close the territory.”, - says the head of the search and rescue team "Center Spas" from Grodno Alexander Kritsky.

According to him, now the task is set by the headquarters. Registration is needed so that the leaders of the search operation know how many people they have at their disposal.

SUVs sent off-road

One of the first tasks was given to a group of guys in off-road vehicles. They have six cars and one ATV.

The guys on SUVs were instructed to monitor difficult forest roads

“We represent the off-road jeep trial club Citadel from Brest. On Friday they called. Someone came immediately, someone - today. Nobody remained indifferent. They took a thermal imager, a power plant, flashlights, searchlights, radio stations, cars are equipped with navigators., - says the leader of the mini-squad Pavel Stasyuk.

The lead car is driven by an experienced driver Evgeniy. He is a truck driver, the day before he returned from a business trip abroad and immediately went to Pushcha. The team is studying a map that shows a piece of forest with a perimeter of about 40 kilometers. The headquarters instructed to bypass all roads and hard-to-reach passages for ordinary cars in the indicated square.

“People have never been searched, but we have a clearly defined task. The experience of passing impassable places off-road, through swamps on off-road vehicles will help, and this is already a big deal. ”, says the elder.

Searches are also being carried out on the territory of the protected area of ​​the Belovezhskaya Pushcha reserve

Experience was needed as soon as we turned onto a wild forest path. There are pits, deep puddles, potholes on it, sometimes fallen young trees or branches block the passage.

“Look carefully around, suddenly something will flash, maybe today you are lucky and we will see a boy”, Pavel advises.

In the square allotted to us, the cars parted to the sides in order to monitor all the small passages. Communication takes place only by walkie-talkies, since there is communication only in rare villages.

They checked pipes, cellars, looked for beds

The team was ready to work until dark. Everyone believes that the boy is alive, but just hiding somewhere. Yesterday, the guys all day in the same area of ​​the forest examined abandoned houses, farms, cellars and sheds.

“Yesterday my shoes got wet, but I didn’t take a change. I wrote in the "Angela" group, and completely unfamiliar people from Pinsk sent boots and a raincoat. Those who could not come, at least support us in this way ”- shares the girl Anya from Mogilev.

The team also includes two experienced industrial climbers from Mogilev. At the headquarters, they first wanted to send them to survey the deep mines that are on the territory of Pushcha. But the necessary equipment was not on site, and the guys did not take their own.

A group of volunteers examines a stack of straw in which the boy could make a couch

"Stop, the pipe is under the road - look", Pavel commands.

Even animal feeders, fallen trees, huts and gatehouses need to be checked. During one of the stops, we found crushed grass under a bush. It turned out that there was a big animal lying here. A little later, they saw a woman's jacket rolled up with a roller. An abandoned booth was found in the neighborhood, but no one has appeared in it for a long time. “There are hundreds of such shelters in the forest. I think the child knows them well.", suggests the commander.

The search party needs to look into every abandoned building, barn or basement

After each failure, the guys sigh, someone jokes: “We’ll find it - the kid should be given to the special forces. The whole country is looking for him, and he hides so skillfully..

They want to take the child into the ring

While we were driving through the forest, the team saw a change in the principles of the search. This morning, along the main roads, there were soldiers with dogs, employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

“They cordoned off the forest around the village. They want to take the guy into the ring. If they manage to organize all the civilians, they might be able to find them.”, - argue in a team.

Soldiers have been on duty on the main roads since morning

A few hours later there were more people in the forest. Volunteers, who a few hours ago stood at the school stadium, now we saw in the forest at a site closer to the New Court. Some are in chains of groups that comb the forest meter by meter, others are on the roadsides, others are checking a large stack of straw in the field. The attendants were wearily trampling, someone was burning a fire, someone managed to pick up mushrooms.

As Alexander Kritsky explained, each search group "closes" the square of the forest assigned to it, people go along a certain azimuth and comb the forest.

Simple volunteers led by experienced coordinators who know how to use navigation, a compass, know cartography, can lead a group of people and make sure that no one from the team is left behind or lost. Everyone works according to a certain algorithm approved by the operational headquarters.

Each team receives such cards, on which the search area is marked

They saw Maxim, but the headquarters does not believe

After combing a new section of the forest, the off-road team stopped in one of the villages. The guys immediately looked into the old basement. Many of the team do not really understand why they were sent to travel on the roads. After all, if the boy hid, then it is unlikely that he will come out when he hears the rumble of cars. But then there was hope.

“Some of the volunteers saw the boy run across the road near the village of Teraspol, four kilometers from the house. A soldier slipped through the cordon", - the guys of one of the cars share the latest news. This means that the child did not go into the very thicket, but keeps to the roads, you can see him by chance.

A little later, the headquarters assured that these were just rumors. But the volunteers in the camp kept saying: “The child was seen both on Saturday and during the week, he was picking mushrooms in a clearing”.

“Hold the muesli, Snickers, you need to eat more sweets. We have coffee and energy drinks with us. We are in the forest, we spend a lot of energy" Anya advises.

The girl was on her feet for the second day, she was very tired, she did not get enough sleep. She had to spend the night in the school building in a sleeping bag. He says that the school sheltered everyone who wanted to, many were taken for the night by local residents.

During the day - people, at night - drones with thermal imagers

In total, more than two thousand people received the task from the headquarters. Most went to the forest in the morning, but during the day new groups formed from the new arrivals.

“Three helicopters from the Ministry of Emergency Situations, gyroplanes were involved. During the day, divers worked, who examined the reservoirs and swampy areas closest to the village. The headquarters works around the clock, but people go out into the forest only during daylight hours., - says the representative of the operational headquarters from the Grodno Department of Internal Affairs Alexander Shastaylo.

Alexander Shastaylo, representative of the operational headquarters from the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Grodno Regional Executive Committee

Drones with thermal imagers fly over the area every night. So far, the search has returned no results.

According to the Angel search and rescue team, Novy Dvor still needs volunteers, as well as help to search for ordinary people who can transfer money to a charity account, transfer the necessary things, water or food.

What the volunteer camp needs can be found on the official Angel page on social networks.

Volunteers and those who are just preparing to come are advised to bring a reflective vest, if possible a whistle and a flashlight, an extra set of clothing, several pairs of socks, rubber boots or other suitable shoes for wet forests and swamps. Gathering - at the stadium of the school. Departure of search groups is scheduled for 9.00, 12.00 and 15.00. It is advised to arrive an hour before departure. There is a field kitchen at the gathering place of the search parties.

Missing in Belovezhskaya Pushcha 10-year-old Maxim Markhaliuk have been looking for 9 days now. The boy went to the forest for mushrooms on the evening of September 16 and still has not returned. In addition to the police officers, the fighters of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, soldiers, volunteers of search and rescue teams, and the local population joined in the search for the child.