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Mourning for Siberian victims of the tragic Egyptian air crash

By 0 and 0 and 0
04 November 2015

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'I never saw her without a smile. Always joking and laughing.' Picture: Gorno-Altaisk Info

Kogalymavia airline began its operations in Siberia, and now crew and passengers are among the victims of a disaster which experts are analysing for signs that it was caused by terrorists rather than mechanical failure.

Svetlana Radionova, who studied with Irina in Novosibirsk, paid tribute to her friend, one of 224 killed on Saturday soon after the Airbus A321 had taken off from Sharm el-Sheikh bound for St Petersburg.

Irina Olaru


Irina Olaru


Irina Olaru

Top to bottom: Irina Olaru (second from the right) with Metrojet crew; Irina Olaru (first from the right) with her colleagues betwee the flights; Irina Olaru with her family in Gorno-Altaisk. Pictures: Vkotakte, Odnoklassniki

'We lived in one room in a dormitory at the centre for training and certification of aviation personnel. She was like a 'running engine'. She had time to be everywhere. And most importantly, I never saw her without a smile. Always joking and laughing. 

'We all could not wait to start flying. We had interviews at the airlines, a few people were taken to Transaero, others - to Ural Airlines, including Irina. But she decided not to go to Yekaterinburg. She went directly to Moscow and settled in at Kogalymavia.'

She planned to marry a colleague who she met at the airline. Another friend Alyona Zhivaeva told MK that on the tragic day the plane crashed, her boyfriend was waiting for her at Pulkovo airport in St Petersburg. He was also a steward with  Kogalymavia.

Elena Sergei and Miron Zhimalenkov


Evgenia Kalinina

Elena, Sergei and Miron Zhimalenkov (top). Evgenia Kalinina (bottom) Pictures: Vkontakte

'They wanted to get married in the summer, but  they could not find the time,' she said. 'They were always working. They were officially engaged, he gave her a ring. I was so happy for them. Ira did not want to organise a wedding, she just wanted to run to the registrar and back. But Ilya wanted everything to be right.'

Born and raised in Gorno-Altaisk in the Altai Republic, she worked in a jewellery shop before fulfilling her dream to work in the air. Now her mother and sister have travelled to St Petersburg to retrieve her body. Irina's cousin Yelena wrote on her social media page: 'Bring back the warmth of her breath, her smile and  words. Give me at least the sound of her footsteps.'

Anna Pakhar


Anna and Leonid

Anna Pakhar, 25, from Lesosibirsk died with her new husband Leonid Mantsakanov, 39, from St Petersburg. Pictures: Vkontakte

Another victims were an entire family from Nadym. Evgenia Kalinina, 64 and her daughter Elena, 29, moved to St Petersburg from Nadym few years ago. Elena married Sergei Zhimalenkov, 32, and Elena gave birth to a boy, Miron, in 2013. All four died in the crash.

Also killed was Anya Pakhar, 25, from Lesosibirsk. Her sister Elena, from Krasnoyarsk, said: 'Anya graduated the local Orthodox gymnasium, then went to Moscow to study in the Orthodox university and was preparing for her Ph.D. I still cannot believe in what has happened to her.' She died with her new husband Leonid Mantsakanov, 39, from St Petersburg.

Yulia Maslennikova

Yulia Maslennikova, 27, was killed with her boyfriend, leaving her daughter without a mother. Picture: Vkontakte

Yulia Maslennikova, 27, moved from Barnaul to St Petersburg several years ago. She was killed with her boyfriend, leaving her daughter, aged seven,  without a mother. 

Kogalymavia - which flew under the name Metrojet - was founded in 1993, and initially its base was in Kogalym, Surgut and Nizhnevartovsk, all cities in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Region of western Siberia, operating flights to and from Moscow. Later the airline switched focus to holiday charter flights. 

Comments (8)

Sad to see this story bootlegged by conspiratists focused on ancient history and money when the real tale is about human suffering right now.

The real issue, my hope, is that this leads to another cooperative effort by our people that is as important as was the destruction of the Nazi. We need to destroy this rising evil and get on with what's really important - living in peace and prosperity.
Mike Owen, Santa Barbara USA
18/11/2015 14:28
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Mr. Putin should pay attention to the DNA of the Nicholas II of Russia family...there is HUGE money involved...enough to make the US and UK conspire to do something creative to derive attention from past transgressions, and crimes committed against the owner, and the children of the owner, in reference and pertaining to that HUGE trust account...nice tactics to hide the 'Birthright Owner' of Russia thru Catholic Social Services, then place in Alaska and 'do it until the courts tell you that you can't' phrase from officials, and all the while they use that HUGE money to make investments made thru business and insurance carriers, until the accounts could be manipulated to other interests...what is going to bite all the arrogance of officials in the ass is when said birthright owner goes to court - representing self - and wins the case with the sample of their DNA...the end...sounds like Russia - Siberia and all other parts of Russia will be 'stupid rich' very soon...
When the same birthright owner is the reason the Catholic Church was exposed should serve as evidence..
Humanity can take solace in the fact that said birthright owner considers humanity 'family' since everyone else 'took the money and ran' and now that has to be 'paid back with interest' will serve an interesting court case!
Geneva sounds like they are about to be educated in legalities and human rights and what happens when...
Oh and don't bother with the endless attempts to take the life of said birthright owner...looks like Russia wins!
Seems the DNA spectrum has the warrior gene, aggression, endurance, and precision. Remember that now!
Lol...I hear that 'you only know where you have been ' is a common phrase in reference to raised in Alaska!
Dain Bosworth Investments, UK
08/11/2015 04:29
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google 49logger and you will find out what is really going on...
Little Mouse, USA
07/11/2015 09:44
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No it's the USA and UK in collusion...see they have to return a HUGE account they have been living large on...
For almost 100 years now...sounds like money does make folks do evil things...too bad the owner of such account is the one who exposed the Catholic Church...too bad that DNA has bodies being exhumed in Russia...hmmm...
If I were you I would send a message to your Russian astronauts and have them 'roll that beautiful bean footage' and see what REALLY happened...both the USA and UK are good at playing 'hide and go seek' with things...
No Name, USA
07/11/2015 03:25
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My sources in the Arab world(and I have some very good ones) say to me it was done by KSA agents, but they are not hundred percent certain about it, we will wait and see.
Lazar, Moscow
05/11/2015 22:31
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Des pensées très affectueuses pour toutes ces familles et proches qui ont été touchés par ce drame.
Jocelyne, FRANCE
05/11/2015 18:47
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I won't speak about Putin here so as to honour the innocent that died on that fated flight...but I will say my piece about him in future.

I am sorry for all of the passengers on board who were just on another (so they thought) ordinary flight returning home after their holiday. But their flight was sadly targeted by IS/ISIL or subsidiarys of ISIL. I have written this on other sites a day after the news, because it was so obvious that ordinary Russians were going to suffer for a certain someones foray into a civil war. Now ordinary Russians (men, women & children) have paid a price for that (going about their daily lives) & I am afraid more will follow.

My sympathies to all of those who died & sincere condolences to the families & friends of the victims.
Jaker, Dundalk
05/11/2015 09:25
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good morning, you woke up! nice to see! today for the first time an article about the downed plane. in the meantime a second (cccp built) plane is down in Africa, some 40 dead...
and these things come always in three. so we ware waiting..
Benedikt, Moscow,Russia
04/11/2015 21:41
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