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0:40

It could be said that the history of life

0:42

is a history of movement, a

0:45

vast dance of inexorable entropic

0:47

change, from the

0:50

propulsion of the stars and the planets to

0:52

the vibrating of subatomic particles

0:55

and the stretching of space itself. It's

0:57

useful to remember sometimes, but

1:00

even the most solid seeming of objects

1:02

are, in one way or another, in a constant

1:04

kinetic state, be

1:07

that the glass in your window, the elements

1:09

of a diamond, or even the earth

1:12

under our feet. Let

1:14

us, then, for a moment, take one

1:17

singular place and look upon

1:19

it as an ageless being of omnipotence

1:22

might observe it. You're

1:25

listening to Unexplained, and I'm

1:27

Richard McClain Smith. At

1:37

first, we see a minute speck hanging

1:40

in the depths of space. Drawing

1:42

closer, we see it is in fact a

1:44

nameless planet moving around

1:46

a nameless star. Drawing

1:50

closer still, we see on the

1:52

surface of that planet, two gigantic

1:54

land masses are set on an imperceptible

1:57

but devastating collision course, and

2:00

on the edge of one we find our

2:02

spot. The

2:04

movement of the land is generated in part

2:07

by the heat of the planet's core, a

2:09

solid ball of iron nickel raging

2:12

at almost five and a half thousand degrees

2:14

centigrade that in turn heats

2:16

a mantle layer below the planet's surface.

2:20

This outer shell appears to be a static

2:23

rock composed mainly of silicon,

2:25

iron, magnesium, oxygen,

2:28

and aluminium, but of

2:30

course it is not still. Instead,

2:33

it bends and creeps, cajoled

2:35

by the planet's warm belly, expanding

2:38

and contracting in convective circles

2:40

as the heat rises and falls through

2:42

the silicate layers. It

2:45

is on this sea of rock and waves of heat

2:47

that the two land masses are being thrown

2:50

toward each other and

2:52

on this planet. By our measurements, the

2:55

days last just over twenty two

2:57

hours, and oxygen levels in the air

2:59

are fifty percent higher than anything we

3:01

have ever experienced, and

3:04

there is life in plenty

3:06

across the continents. Owing to the humid

3:09

climate, the land is smothered in

3:11

vast swamps and enormous trees.

3:14

Amphibious creatures dominate, while

3:17

giant invertebrate arthropods wiggle

3:19

and cruel in abundance. Some

3:22

even fly too, their twitching

3:24

segmented bodies lifted into the air

3:27

by gossamer wings Over half a meter

3:29

in span. The

3:32

two continents draw ever closer, until

3:34

finally they collide to

3:36

form one giant singular mass.

3:40

As they merge, our spot

3:42

is pushed and pulled as vast splinterings

3:45

of rock rise into the sky to

3:47

form mountains and rolling hills. Over

3:51

time, the land beneath continues

3:53

to move and break apart into

3:55

many separate pieces, and

3:57

over the land above, more and diff

4:00

front creatures are taking their place, entire

4:03

species rising into falling, while the

4:05

planet spirals on through space as

4:08

it continues to orbit the nameless star,

4:12

a mere three hundred million orbits later,

4:14

and now the oxygen levels on the planet

4:17

have depleted, the days have

4:19

become longer, and from

4:21

out of a central place, what was

4:23

once four legs has become two.

4:27

In herds, these strange bipedal

4:29

creatures are dispersed throughout the

4:31

planet. Eventually

4:33

they will learn to give themselves names

4:36

and names two for the many things around

4:38

them, including

4:40

the very planet they walk upon, which

4:43

will become known as Planeta

4:46

Zimna jigu hen

4:48

Song, or to others, planet

4:51

Earth, and

4:54

those creatures will learn to tell stories,

4:56

bringing ever greater potential for change.

4:59

For now, not only does the material

5:01

world change, but so too

5:04

will the world that is mapped onto it in

5:06

the minds of the creatures who walk upon it,

5:10

Entire worlds that two can rise

5:12

and fall in a matter of moments.

5:16

As for our spot, it will

5:18

eventually find itself nestled at the foothills

5:21

of those same mountains formed three

5:23

hundred million years ago, still

5:25

surviving today as one of the oldest

5:27

mountain ranges on the planet. Those

5:31

mountains will eventually find themselves encased

5:34

in a country named Rossia

5:36

and will become known as Uralski

5:39

Gorri, or as

5:41

the Ural Mountains. So

5:45

let us now get closer in time and space

5:48

to the spot that we have marked. The

5:58

Ural Mountains form a natural order

6:00

between Europe and Asia, running

6:02

two and a half thousand kilometers through western

6:04

Russia, from the coast of the Kara Sea

6:07

to the northwest border of Kazakhstan,

6:10

and just to the east of the central Urals,

6:13

we will find our region of interest. In

6:17

seventeen twenty three, Peter, the

6:19

great leader of the Russian Empire, establishes

6:22

a town here that will be named Yachitterimborg

6:25

after his wife Yiketerina. Due

6:29

to the abundance of minerals, vast

6:31

resources of timber, and the deep

6:33

waters of the Ist River, the

6:35

location was a place of great natural

6:38

beauty, but also a prime

6:40

location for what would become

6:43

the administrative mining capital of

6:45

the Russian Empire. Just

6:48

under two hundred years later, and the city

6:50

is firmly established as a focal point for

6:52

the country's growing industrial appetite.

6:56

And in that time so much

6:58

has changed, not

7:00

that we might notice. However, certainly

7:04

the surrounding land and even the city,

7:06

to all intents and purposes, has remained

7:08

fixed. But even as

7:11

we look upon it now, invisible

7:13

changes are taking place. As

7:17

a primary industrial hub, Yukaterimburg

7:19

has found itself a beating heart of

7:22

a new world that has materialized around

7:24

it. Having been a

7:26

town built by royal decree to

7:28

excavate natural resources

7:31

that would then be turned into capital and

7:33

wealth for a fortunate few, it

7:36

is now a symbol and ode to those that generated

7:38

the wealth, not through some strange

7:41

alchemy, but through the blood

7:43

and sweat of the many hands that scraped

7:45

it from the earth. And

7:48

so it is that, at the beginning of the century

7:51

we find in our spot the same

7:53

furnaces burning, and the same coal

7:56

brought from the land by the same

7:58

hands, But the status of

8:00

those hands has been elevated.

8:04

Two thousand and two hundred miles away,

8:06

on April sixteenth, nineteen seventeen,

8:10

a train will pull into Finland Station in

8:12

Saint Petersburg, carrying a

8:14

man whose words, on stepping onto

8:16

the station platform will bring further

8:18

winds of change. We

8:21

watch as they provoke an internacene

8:23

war, turning the people of the nation

8:25

against each other in brutal

8:27

and devastating ways. Back

8:31

in Yakaterinburg, there is a mansion

8:33

house belonging to a merchant named

8:35

Epatiev, but as

8:37

we avert our gaze for a moment. A

8:40

year has passed, and when we look again

8:43

we see the same bricks and mortar standing

8:45

in the same place, only

8:47

now there is no Epatiev and

8:50

the mansion has been renamed the

8:52

House of Special Purpose of the Ural

8:55

Soviet Committee. A

8:57

year later, in the spring of nineteen eighteen,

9:00

seven highly prized prisoners a

9:03

family will be escorted to

9:05

Yakaterinburg and imprisoned

9:07

in this House of Special Purpose. We

9:11

see them now in the early hours

9:13

of July seventeenth, nineteen eighteen,

9:16

as they are raised from their beds and

9:18

taken to a small room.

9:20

They are told to sit and wait for a truck

9:23

to come and take them away.

9:25

But the truck never comes, only

9:28

a hail of bullets and thrusting bayonets

9:31

that ends with the walls dripping in blood and

9:34

the prisoners lying dead on the

9:36

ground. We

9:39

watch as the bodies are taken to an abandoned

9:41

mine shaft and one by one are

9:44

dropped to the bottom of it.

9:47

It is the last time that Russia will

9:49

ever know a royal family. Five

9:59

years later, the war is over. Yukaterinburg

10:02

remains, but now finds itself

10:05

not in Russia but the Union of

10:07

Soviet Socialist Republics, and

10:10

though the name and rulers have changed, the

10:12

minerals and oars in the ground are

10:14

still very much in demand. To

10:17

that end, a school has been established,

10:20

named the euro Polytechnic Institute,

10:23

to promote better skills in the working classes

10:25

to aid with increased production. The

10:29

following year, we return to find the

10:31

city as it was, only

10:33

now it has a new name, spurred

10:36

Lovsk. In

10:39

the blink of an eye, just over thirty

10:41

years have passed. It is nineteen

10:44

fifty nine, and both spurred

10:46

Lovsk and the euro Polytechnic as

10:48

much as we left it. We

10:50

see the building's familiar majestic architecture

10:53

colonnaded at the front, underneath

10:55

a vast pediment bearing the large

10:57

embossed symbol of a hammer and a

10:59

sickle. But in those

11:01

thirty years, as ever, so

11:03

much has changed, and a new ruler

11:06

has replaced the old, ushering

11:08

an end to an era of almost unparalleled

11:10

upheaval. In

11:13

that time, an old enemy has

11:15

risen and fallen from the west, and

11:17

some considered enemies from within

11:20

have fallen too, And

11:22

now the deaths of over forty million people

11:25

haunt the land. The

11:27

mindset of an entire country has been

11:29

altered, and a new war stalks

11:32

the people of this vast nation, a

11:35

Lognoya Voina,

11:37

or the Cold War, as it will

11:39

come to be known. The

11:41

new leader, Nikita Khrushchev,

11:44

has promised a thawing of the old ways,

11:46

and a new generation are ready to embrace

11:49

it, a generation embodied

11:51

by the bright and enthusiastic students

11:53

of the Ural Polytechnic Institute. And

11:56

so it is that on Friday, January

11:59

the twenty third, nineteen fifty nine,

12:02

finally we arrive at the beginning of

12:04

one more story to scatter across the

12:06

foothills of the Ural Mountains, a

12:09

story that is perhaps the most extraordinary

12:12

of all the stories featured on the show so

12:14

far, a chilling

12:17

and profound mystery that remains

12:19

to this day unexplained.

12:29

We begin at the Ural Polytechnic

12:31

Institute in Room five

12:33

three one. Seven

12:36

students are crammed inside the spartan dormitory,

12:39

frantically shoving various bits and pieces

12:41

into backpacks, cans of

12:43

meat, followed by packets of oatmeal,

12:45

survival nights, and even a cooking

12:48

stove. Nothing is forgotten,

12:51

but rather than chaos, it is the

12:53

steady haste of a well oiled team.

12:56

They are preparing for a difficult mountain hike

12:59

deep into the euro towards O'tauton

13:01

Mountain. The journey

13:03

will involve at least sixteen days of

13:05

trekking through the Siberian tundra

13:08

on a path that many consider one of

13:10

the toughest at this time of year, and

13:13

it will need to be since all are

13:15

hoping to achieve their Category three hiking

13:18

certificate upon completion. It

13:21

is the highest awarded category in the country

13:24

and one that will require the team to

13:26

cover over three hundred kilometers of ground,

13:29

spending at least eight days incompletely

13:32

uninhabited regions. One

13:35

boy, Yuri Krivneshchenko, looks

13:37

perturbed for a moment as he hunts around

13:39

the room, his face brightening into

13:42

a huge grin when he finally finds

13:44

his leather boots. Yuri,

13:47

also known as Gyogi, is the joker

13:50

of the group and at twenty three,

13:52

also one of the oldest. A

13:55

recent graduate of construction and hydraulics.

13:58

Back in September of nineteen fifty seven,

14:01

Georgy had been assigned to work at a

14:03

secret nuclear facility called

14:05

Chelyabinsk forty when

14:07

the plutonium plant experienced a catastrophic

14:10

radioactive leak. Gyorgy

14:12

was part of the team who was sent in to clean

14:14

up the mess. He

14:17

packs his leather boots away, then makes

14:19

some space for his much loved mandolin.

14:22

Do you think I can play it on the train? He asks,

14:25

of course, shout the others in warm

14:28

reply. In

14:30

the corner of the dawn, keeping a watchful

14:32

eye over the preparations is the

14:34

diligent and methodical Alexander

14:37

Kolovatov. At

14:39

twenty four, Alexander is

14:41

the oldest member of the group. A

14:43

kind soul with a ponchon for smoking

14:46

antique pipes. Alexander

14:48

was a distinguished student in the field of nuclear

14:50

physics who had also studied in Moscow

14:53

at a secret institute known as the Ministry

14:56

of Medium Machine Building before

14:58

returning to Spurredlovsk to complete

15:00

his physics major. Who

15:03

has the salt shouted Zinaida Kolmogorova,

15:07

or Zina as she is known to her friends.

15:11

Although only twenty Zena is in

15:13

her fourth year of radio engineering and

15:15

is a tough and experienced hiker, known

15:18

affectionately as the engine of the University,

15:21

Zina's magnetic charm rarely went unnoticed,

15:25

not least by a number of the boys in the

15:27

team. Where

15:29

at Doroshenko and Iger she asks,

15:31

suddenly, let me have fifteen

15:33

cents to call them.

15:35

The question is directed at Ludmila

15:37

Dubanina, the only other woman

15:40

in the group. Luda

15:43

is only twenty and the youngest in

15:45

the team. A focused

15:47

and committed communist, the athletic

15:49

Luda is practically a poster girl for

15:51

the party, and like Zena,

15:54

is possessed of an inner steel equal,

15:56

if not superior, to any of her

15:58

male compatriots. On

16:01

one expedition to the Sayan Mountains,

16:03

she was accidentally shot by a tourist,

16:06

but didn't complain once during her long and

16:08

painful journey back home, except

16:10

to apologize for troubling the group. Luda

16:14

hands Seena the fifteen cents from the

16:16

pile of cash she is diligently counting up.

16:20

Meanwhile, Rustick is teasing Collier

16:22

over who has more willpower to survive

16:24

the trip without their beloved cigarettes. Rustick

16:28

is Roostum Slobidin, another

16:30

recent graduate of the institute. Unlike

16:33

the others, Rustick comes from

16:35

a wealthy family of academics, but

16:38

he carries none of the sense of entitlement that

16:40

such wealth can sometimes entail. As

16:44

perhaps the most popular member of the team,

16:46

it would seem that Rustick had lived

16:49

up to the Tartan name that his father

16:51

had bestowed on him as a symbol of

16:53

international friendship to all men and

16:55

women. In

16:57

marked contrast, Nikolay beau

17:00

Brugnol's background could not have

17:02

been more different. Born

17:04

in a concentration camp, Collier

17:07

had been brought up by his mother on her own after

17:09

his French communist father had been executed

17:12

as part of Stalin's ruthless purges.

17:16

Collier had graduated from the Institute

17:18

in fifty eight after majoring

17:20

in civil engineering, and with

17:23

a reputation for unselfish behavior. Was

17:25

a man always looking to help others. Today

17:29

holds mixed emotions for Collier. He

17:32

had promised to his mother that this trip would

17:34

be his last, and he would miss

17:36

moments like these the most. The

17:39

giddy, nervous energy of the team.

17:42

Just before the journey begins,

17:46

someone throws a couple of bags to Yuri Yudin,

17:49

who deposits them outside, ready to load

17:51

onto the truck that will take them to the station.

17:54

The twenty one year old Yuri, a geology

17:57

student at the institute, had endured

17:59

a tough and impoverished upbringing, and

18:01

also suffered greatly from rheumatism

18:03

in his leg joints, but Yuri

18:06

had always determined never to let his affliction

18:09

dictate his life. There

18:12

is a great cheer when Yuri Dorishenko

18:15

finally arrives to join the group. The

18:18

much loved twenty one year old radio engineer

18:21

had a fearsome reputation, having

18:23

once successfully fended off a black bear

18:25

with nothing but a geologist's hammer. His

18:29

entrance is followed shortly after by

18:31

Eager Diatlov, a

18:34

student of radio engineering. Twenty

18:36

three year old Eager was a formidable

18:38

athlete and easily the most experienced

18:41

hiker in the team. Strong,

18:43

thoughtful, and confident, he was a natural

18:46

fit as their leader. He

18:48

was also prodigiously talented, having

18:51

designed and assembled a radio at the age

18:53

of twenty that would later be used on

18:55

Class hikes. With

18:58

the final checks complete, the group

19:00

gather their things and move out.

19:03

Twenty minutes later, after a short

19:05

tram ride to the city station, the

19:08

team are settled into a Class three cabin

19:10

as the train pulls away from Sverdlovsk.

19:14

Such moments are usually caused for reflection,

19:17

to be leaving behind your home town on a

19:19

treacherous journey into the wilderness, but

19:22

in this moment they are distracted

19:24

by a stranger in their midst Are

19:31

you always taking care of your family?

19:33

Do you often take care of others and not yourself?

19:36

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19:39

make time for you. You deserve

19:41

it. Tele Adoc gives you access

19:43

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19:45

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19:55

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19:57

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20:02

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20:04

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dot com slash Unexplained podcast.

20:43

Eager introduces his handsome,

20:45

dark haired friend to the group as

20:47

Sasha. At thirty

20:49

seven, he is considerably older than the

20:51

others, and although not by any

20:53

means old, he appears as

20:56

if from another age, so the

20:58

young students might be forgiven their palpable

21:00

sense of trepidation when Sasha

21:03

reveals a mouth full of gold

21:05

teeth from underneath his wolfish

21:07

smile. Their sense

21:10

of unease is not helped by the sight

21:12

of a number of tattoos dotted about

21:14

his body, but their

21:16

unease is not out of rudeness, more

21:19

from the tacit awareness that they are in

21:21

the presence of a ghost. At

21:25

thirty seven years old, Sasha

21:27

is part of a generation of which only three

21:29

percent remain, having

21:32

been decimated by the brutality of

21:34

the Great Patriotic War. Though

21:37

it is unlikely he would have forgotten much

21:39

from the five years he served from nineteen

21:41

forty one to nineteen forty six,

21:44

Sascha bears a constant reminder of

21:46

those he had lost. Three

21:48

initials inked onto his skin, followed

21:51

by an equal sign and the symbol

21:53

for friendship. Semion

21:56

Zolotatov to give him his full name,

21:59

has been working as a tour guide in South Siberia,

22:02

and like the others, is desperate to achieve

22:04

his Grade three certificate. Before

22:06

long, the team recognize a kindred

22:09

spirit, and any initial sense of unease

22:12

is quickly banished by the sound of Gyorgy's

22:14

mandolin as he strikes up to play

22:18

together. As the train speeds on through

22:20

the ural countryside, they sing

22:22

all the songs that they know, while

22:24

behind them Sverdlovsk

22:26

recedes further and further until

22:28

it has entirely disappeared from view.

22:33

Ten hours later, and the train finally

22:35

pulls into Serov, a

22:37

small town three hundred and fifty kilometers

22:40

due north of Zverdlovsk. With

22:43

their next train not due to leave until

22:45

six thirty pm. The exhausted

22:47

team are hoping to escape the cold and

22:50

maybe get some sleep in the station waiting room,

22:52

but are disappointed to find it locked

22:54

for the day. Georgi

22:57

attempts to cheer up his friends with a comical

22:59

bus routine, but his

23:01

singing has attracted the attention of two

23:04

guards, a sign perhaps

23:06

that they have already entered a different world

23:09

to the one encased within their dormitory

23:11

walls. The guards

23:13

grab Gyorgi from the platform and push

23:15

him into their office. A

23:18

short time later, and a somewhat stunned

23:20

Gyorgi is returned to the platform

23:22

after being let off with a stern warning

23:25

for contravening Article two point

23:27

three of the Internal Order at

23:29

railway stations. Not

23:33

wanting to hang around, the team head

23:35

off in search of shelter when they come

23:37

across an empty school hall. After

23:40

knocking on the door, they are met by the

23:42

kind face of the school's janitor. Much

23:46

to their relief, she takes pity on the

23:48

young hikers and divites them inside

23:50

to rest and warm themselves, but

23:52

there is one condition. In

23:55

return, they must give a talk to the school

23:57

children before they leave. A

24:00

few hours later, and Zena and Sasha

24:02

have the children hanging on their every word

24:05

as they listen wide eyed and attentively

24:07

to their tales of adventure. When

24:10

it is finally time to go, the children

24:13

have to be peeled sobbing and crying from

24:15

Zena before finally accepting

24:17

her promise to one day return. The

24:20

children wave and shout goodbye to

24:23

their ten new favorite heroes as

24:25

they watched them head back to the train station.

24:30

Finally, the team are on the move again, and

24:33

by midnight they have arrived in the

24:35

small town of Evedale. Since

24:45

leaving spurred Lovsk, the gang had been

24:47

shadowed by another team of hikers from

24:49

the institute, led by their good friend

24:51

Yuri Blinoff. That

24:54

night of January the twenty fourth, they

24:56

all sleep huddled together in the Evedale

24:59

station waiting room until the following

25:01

morning, when they catch the first tram

25:03

to Evedale town center. The

25:07

town is built on the confluence of the Evedeale

25:09

River and the Lozla River, and

25:12

like most towns in the region, Evedell

25:14

had been established as a mining colony,

25:17

in this case for gold, but

25:20

in nineteen thirty seven the town

25:22

had taken on a second purpose, becoming

25:24

the location of Evedel egg Gulag.

25:28

The term is an acronym that translates

25:31

to main administration of corrective

25:33

labor camps. The

25:35

camps had been set up during Stalin's

25:37

time partly as corrective facilities

25:40

for criminals, but were often

25:42

also used to dispense with political

25:44

prisoners, a fact that

25:46

would no doubt have crossed Collier's mind, at

25:48

least as the hikers made their way

25:51

into the town center, with

25:53

some consideration perhaps for the desperate

25:55

souls hidden away somewhere

25:57

beyond the snow topped roofs of the town's

26:00

outskirts. They don't

26:02

have to wait long before their bus arrives,

26:04

and soon after the team are moving

26:06

through the white blanketed countryside. As

26:09

the bus forges ahead towards Vizza,

26:12

the next stop on their journey.

26:14

But there is something wrong. Alexander

26:18

is missing. They must have left

26:20

him behind at the last toilet break. The

26:23

team yelled to the bus driver to pull

26:25

over. A quick headcount

26:28

confirms their fears. Alexander

26:30

is indeed missing, but there is

26:32

nothing that can be done. With

26:35

the bus on a tight schedule, the driver

26:37

has no choice but to continue the journey.

26:40

But wait, says Yuri. As

26:42

far off, a small shape, steadily

26:45

growing larger, reveals itself to

26:47

be a fully laden Alexander, sprinting

26:49

with all his strength toward them.

26:52

I thought you'd left, he sputters between gasps

26:55

for breath, Never say

26:57

the others, as they haul his exhausted

26:59

body back onto the bus.

27:01

Just after two pm, they arrive at

27:04

Viza, and the hikers disembark.

27:13

The town is a woodcutting settlement that

27:15

served as a central hub from which further

27:17

outposts could be reached. From

27:20

here, the two teams will go their separate

27:23

ways. For Blinov

27:25

and his team, a bus heading their

27:27

way to Sector one oh five is due

27:29

to leave late in the afternoon. For

27:32

Eager's group, however, they will have

27:34

to stop here for the night. That

27:37

afternoon, the team's many cameras,

27:40

vital for recording evidence for their Category

27:42

three certificates, are whipped out

27:44

as they say their final goodbyes to Blinov

27:47

and his team. Despite

27:49

the minus seventeen degree temperature, the

27:52

classmates smile and fool around as

27:54

they pose for one final picture. Moments

27:58

later, Urient team scramble

28:01

into the back of a flatbed truck and

28:03

wave a fond goodbye to their friends as

28:06

they pull away and out of the camp.

28:09

For Eager's team, it will be one last

28:12

night of domesticity before heading

28:14

off into the wilderness. The

28:17

team are especially excited to hear of

28:19

a nearby screening room and will pile

28:21

in later that evening to watch a film

28:23

called Symphony and Gold. Rustick

28:26

finds time to write a postcard to his mother

28:29

and Dorishenko and Alexander make

28:31

a number of final checks and adjustments

28:34

to the equipment. That

28:36

night, with two crammed to a bed

28:39

and Georgi and Sasha taking positions

28:41

on the floor, the team sleep

28:43

soundly. The

28:46

next morning, they are up and dressed early,

28:48

eager to get on the road again. But

28:51

something is bugging Yuri. A

28:54

pain in his legs that had been steadily growing

28:56

was threatening to become unbearable. Despite

29:00

his misgivings, he was determined not

29:02

to let the others down and decided

29:04

to ignore it for now. But

29:06

there is also something else. The

29:09

previous afternoon, an experienced

29:11

forester had expressed concern about

29:13

the group's trip, thinking it too dangerous

29:16

for them at this time of year. Eager

29:20

had laughed it off in typically bullish style.

29:23

After all, wasn't that precisely

29:25

the reason that they were taking the trip in the first

29:27

place. Yuri had

29:29

laughed too, but as he prepared

29:31

to board the truck for their ride out of Vizi,

29:34

it was with the old man's words still

29:36

ringing in his ears. The

29:39

journey didn't help much either. Sitting

29:42

at the back of the rickety open air truck,

29:44

the team struggled for warmth and comfort,

29:48

but as any traveler knows, it is from

29:50

such experiences that true bonds

29:52

are made, and before long the

29:55

gang were once again singing songs

29:57

and speaking of love and friendship as

30:00

they traveled ever higher into the frost bitten

30:02

ural Mountains. Sector

30:07

forty one was a worker's outpost

30:09

occupied by roughly fifty woodsmen

30:11

stationed on long term contracts, many

30:14

of whom had gone months cut off from

30:16

the world. So it was

30:18

with no little excitement that the new faces

30:21

of the young students were welcomed into

30:23

the worker's homes that evening. As

30:26

for Datlov and his team, they

30:28

were treated to a glimpse of another world

30:31

revealed through the songs and poems

30:33

shared by the workers that night, many

30:35

of them illegal and punishable under

30:38

Article fifty eight of counter revolutionary

30:40

Crimes, but even for the

30:42

committed communist Luda, it

30:45

was a night to remember. The

30:48

next morning, on January the twenty

30:50

seventh, the team awake to find

30:52

a beautiful, clear blue sky waiting

30:54

for them. After

30:56

eight hundred and fifty kilometers, finally

30:59

the time has come to put on their skis

31:02

and begin the trek to a tort and mountain.

31:13

A local man named Slava offers

31:15

to lend them his sled and horse to help

31:17

carry their heavy equipment to their next

31:19

stop, a settlement known

31:21

as North two. The

31:24

settlement is an older geological research

31:26

site just twenty four kilometers

31:29

to the north, now abandoned

31:31

and home to a little more than two thousand

31:33

dilapidated cabins. It

31:36

is late in the afternoon when Slava

31:39

returns with his sled, but after

31:41

securing the luggage and fastening their skis,

31:44

the team are finally en route towards

31:46

North Two. The

31:48

journey takes them over the frozen waters

31:51

of the Ushma River, deeper

31:53

and deeper into the forest, but

31:55

the thin ice is proving tricky for the horse

31:57

to negotiate. After

32:00

two hours, the team have only made

32:02

it a third of the way, but as

32:04

the winter sun drops down behind a

32:06

distant ridge, the team continue

32:08

on unperturbed. Another

32:12

four hours later, and eager spots

32:14

something ahead. Under

32:17

the soft light of the moon, they

32:19

can just make out the shape of a hut

32:21

against the tree line. As

32:24

their eyes are just suddenly a

32:26

sprawling pastoral ghost town

32:29

has appeared before them.

32:31

They have reached the North to settlement.

32:34

The woodsmen had recommended one hut in

32:36

particular that was still habitable,

32:39

and somehow, after a short time

32:41

stumbling around in the dark, they managed

32:43

to find it that

32:46

night. Approaching the log cabin on

32:48

the edge of the forest under the moonlight,

32:51

it is as if they have crossed some kind

32:53

of threshold and stepped right into

32:55

a fairy tale. Old

33:00

Slavic folk stories tell of a grotesque

33:03

witch with fearsome iron teeth

33:05

by the name of Baba Yaga, who

33:08

lives in a hut deep in the heart of the forest.

33:11

She is a complex creature that is

33:13

sometimes good, but at other times

33:16

utterly monstrous,

33:19

given to eating her victims without

33:21

a moment's hesitation. It

33:24

is said that she travels in a large

33:26

pestle and mortar that flies

33:28

through the trees with a sickening, grinding

33:31

screech, and that her heart

33:33

stands atop of a pair of chicken's

33:35

feet. But

33:38

there are no such feet under the cabin

33:40

that night, and the air

33:43

remains silent with the eerie quietude

33:46

that only an abandoned village can

33:48

conjure up. Before

33:51

long, there is life once again, and

33:53

sector north too, As

33:56

the darkness of the cabin is illuminated

33:58

by the sound of young voices, filled

34:00

with the relief of finding shelter for the night,

34:03

and then shortly after by the flickering

34:06

glow of lamp light. A

34:09

few of the boys volunteer to find firewood

34:11

from outside by pulling up

34:14

wood from some of the more dilapidated cabins.

34:17

At one point, Rustick grabs

34:19

at one, only to pull away in

34:21

pain. He looks closely

34:24

at his hand and sees a small pin

34:26

prick from an old nail hidden

34:28

in the dark. He watches

34:30

for a moment as the prick becomes

34:32

a drop of blood on the surface

34:35

of his skin. A

34:38

short time later and the fire is roaring

34:41

and filling the room with the comforting,

34:43

sweet smelling smoke off the hearth.

34:54

The following morning and Yearie Eudin's

34:57

legs are finally given in after

35:00

struggling even to stand. It is

35:02

clear that he is at the point of no return

35:06

with Slava due to head back to Sector

35:08

forty one that day. He has

35:10

little option but to join him.

35:13

With sincere disappointment, he breaks

35:16

the news to the rest of the group, who

35:18

are all equally devastated to be saying

35:20

goodbye so early to their friend. As

35:24

a keen geologist, Ury is

35:26

determined not to return empty handed

35:28

and manages to corral a small team to

35:30

join him on the hunt for some interesting

35:32

samples to take back home, But

35:36

despite the area's abundance of precious

35:38

stones and minerals, Ury

35:40

is saddened only to find quartz and

35:43

Fool's gold hidden under the snow.

35:47

With Slava eager to get going, Ury

35:50

loads his pack on to the back of the sled and

35:52

gingerly steps into his skiths. The

35:55

team say their final goodbyes and

35:57

take one last picture of their friend before

36:00

he leaves. And so it

36:02

is that, on the morning of Wednesday, January

36:05

twenty eighth, that the ten strong

36:07

team led by Iger Diatlov

36:10

becomes nine. Before

36:13

he is out of sight, Yuri turns

36:16

one last time to waive a final

36:18

goodbye to the team.

36:20

He couldn't possibly have known then that

36:23

it will be the last time his friends will

36:25

ever be seen alive again. All

36:34

elements have unexplained are produced by me Richard

36:37

McClain smith. Please subscribe and rate

36:39

the show on iTunes, and feel free to get in

36:41

touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding

36:43

the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps

36:45

you have an explanation of your own you'd like to share.

36:48

You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast

36:50

dot com or on Twitter at Unexplained

36:52

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