Two days after the disappearance of the child, the whole country learned that on September 16, a ten-year-old Maxim Markhaluk from village New Yard Svisloch district allegedly got lost in the forest. The message about the lost boy was published in the media and broadcast on radio and TV. Then the rescuers and neighbors were looking for the child, but their strength was not enough. Therefore, volunteers began to be invited to the search operation in social networks.
It was known that on the evening of September 16, while playing with friends, Maxim said that he would go to the forest to pick mushrooms. This is a favorite pastime of the locals: the forest is located not far from the agricultural town. When the boy did not return for dinner, his parents became worried. And 800 meters from the house in the forest next to the hut that the children built for games, they found a bicycle and a basket of mushrooms.
September 20th. Volunteers come from all over the country
Caring people cooperate and travel from different cities of Belarus. Those who have tents and other travel accessories offer volunteers to use their things. Three volunteers left Baranovichi that day in search of Maxim. After returning one of them, Intex-press, how exactly the search operation is organized.
September 22nd. Volunteers set up camp
And on the Youtube portal about the largest search operation in the country. At that time, they had been looking for Maksim Markhaliuk for the tenth day, but still to no avail. Law enforcement agencies did not consider the criminal version.
September 26th. Criminal case
On the eleventh day of the search for Maxim on the fact of his disappearance in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 167 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Belarus. If within ten days after the missing person's whereabouts have not been established, then this article allows initiating a criminal case on the fact of an unknown disappearance.
The Investigative Committee of the Republic of Belarus stated that no criminal trace was found in the disappearance of the boy.
“Today there is no evidence that a child who went missing in the Svisloch region became a victim of a crime,” the chairman of the Investigative Committee told reporters. Ivan Noskevich.
September 27. The search continues
In the morning at 9.00 in the group of the search and rescue squad "Angel" there was information that the lost boy had not yet been found. Also, administrators asked users not to spread rumors.
Main version law enforcement The boy got lost in the forest. Although after the initiation of a criminal case, other versions are being worked out. For example, a boy could voluntarily leave home.
Search teams went around the entire territory, where ten-year-old Maxim could get lost. However, some places in the forest and abandoned farms are reworked.
Rescuers, the military, police, border guards, foresters, local residents and volunteers, who travel to the village of Novy Dvor in the Svisloch district from all over Belarus, are currently involved in the search for the missing 10-year-old Maksim Markhaliuk. On Saturday, if the search does not give a result, a meeting of all search and rescue teams in the country is scheduled.
This is the largest search operation in our practice, - says the commander of the Angel search and rescue team Sergei Kovgan, - people come from all over Belarus. The problem is that there are many volunteers, and there are not enough people who can properly organize them. And if a few days ago people came randomly, now we ask you to arrive at a certain time. The gathering of search groups is carried out near the building of the village council at 9:00, 12:00, 15:00, 18.00. As for night searches, it is better for unprepared people not to participate in them. Now, in addition to searching for the boy, our main task is to ensure the safety of volunteers who go out into the forest.
Recall that the boy disappeared in Belovezhskaya Pushcha last Saturday evening. They have been searching for him for seven days now. During this time, thousands of people took part in the search.
At the moment (10 am on September 22 - Approx. TUT.BY) 865 people are involved in the search. Among them are 228 employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the republican special-purpose detachment of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, police officers and the military. Our psychologists went to the place, aviation is involved, volunteers are working. During the day, there will most likely be more people involved in the search for the boy, - Natalya Zhivolevskaya, the official representative of the UOMChS in the Grodno region, told TUT.BY.
Also, at the request of the rescuers, the drones of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus were connected to the search.
In groups in in social networks search and rescue teams have created special Internet documents, where the actions of those going in search are coordinated. Here you can offer your services as a driver, find a free place in the car and send products to search engines.
The general gathering of detachments is scheduled for the weekend not by chance. So we can attract more people who have professional search skills to search. It is worth remembering that volunteers are engaged in searches voluntarily in their free time, - says Sergey Kovgan.
The story of the missing Maxim did not leave many indifferent. Even some enterprises of the region send their employees in search of the boy.
Search engines and rescuers ask volunteers who go to the forest to take rubber boots, waterproof and warm clothes, preferably bright colors.
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 strangers boots and a raincoat were sent from Pinsk. 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. Turned out to be here big beast. 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", - share breaking news guys one of the cars. 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.
Caring people collect provisions and overalls, take time off from work and come to the village of Novy Dvor, Svisloch district, Grodno region, to help in the search.
There are more volunteers than security officials
Volunteers are taken to Pushcha by school buses.
Today in the forest since five in the morning, - Andrey, a volunteer from Grodno, tells us. - They combed the square with a chain of 140 people. In two and a half hours, only two kilometers were covered. At the roll call, it turned out that the local grandmothers were constantly lagging behind, they had to wait. Of the guides, there are only three people who know the places.
The terrain here is deaf, and the thicket is impassable. Not a single ray of light. Just horror, - says his friend Alexander.
Those who have visited Pushcha are skeptical about the chances of long-term survival in it: cold weather, wild animals, swamps. But everyone is working and hoping for the best.
The search involves soldiers, police, rescuers. Three helicopters and two unmanned vehicles. As Natalya Zhivolevskaya, press secretary of the Grodno Regional Department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, explained, about two hundred officers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations went to the Pushcha: some of them go up in a helicopter, others comb the massif and swamps, and others provide psychological assistance.
Now several versions are being considered of what could have happened to the boy. But there is no evidence that would indicate that the disappearance of Maxim is of a criminal nature, - told Komsomolskaya Pravda in the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Grodno Regional Executive Committee.
The number of volunteers is expected to rise to 2,000 over the weekend. They comb not only the forest, but also check the impenetrable swamps.
According to public search teams, such large-scale searches have not yet been in the country.
Searches are being conducted within a radius of 20 kilometers from the village.
A few years ago, an elderly woman was found alive five days later in Belovezhskaya Pushcha. But before she disappeared, she was in the store, she had groceries. And then it was warm, - said the commander of the search and rescue team "TsentrSpas" Alexander Kritsky.
“The teachers did not notice the psychological characteristics of the boy”
While the operation is necessary only already known facts. Maxim's bicycle was found near the gazebo in the forest, not far from the house. In this place, local children often spent time. The information of a 30-year-old Minsker who saw a boy in the forest is also considered reliable. It is believed that at that time an hour had passed since the disappearance. It happened about three kilometers from the abandoned bike.
There were no disagreements with him, everything was fine - as usual - says Maxim's mother Valentina. I talked to his classmates, but they don't know where my son is. Clairvoyants contacted us, but this did not give any result. What could happen? Maybe the animals scared him? We are very grateful to the people who are looking for it. God bless them!
The boy's mother works as a technician at the school, and his father is a cattle breeder at the local farm.
At school, we were told that they did not notice any oddities in Maxim's behavior:
Maxim's average score was 7.23. Even taking into account that the grades were slightly inflated for the incentive, he studied well. The teachers didn't notice psychological characteristics, a normal child.
Locals say that the child was kind, but shy, he was reluctant to make contact.
The boy is good and calm. He stuttered when he was worried. He was frightened by a dog, and he was terribly afraid of animals, - recalls a neighbor, Valentina Evgenievna.
A pensioner shares a two-story house built by a local SPK with the Markhaluks. She claims that she never heard the couple quarrel or punish the child.
In the village, everyone speaks positively about the spouses.
When Maxim was younger, his mother never left her on the playground for a minute, she belayed on carousels, says neighbor Valentina Evgenievna. - She looked like a mother hen, Maxim was always with her. But a year ago, he slipped off the dam, fell into a pond, and drowned. Then he was saved by a passerby. Evil rock, what can I say.
CHRONICLE OF THE DISAPPEARANCE
On Saturday, September 16, Maxim Markhaliuk rode out of the house at about 5:30 pm. At about six in the evening, he stopped by his classmate Cyril to call for mushrooms. But he refused.
The mother of the missing child sounded the alarm at eight o'clock in the evening. There was an agreement at home - to return no later than this time. And Maxim always came on time.
At ten in the evening the police received a report of the disappearance. Among the first volunteers was the director of the school, Alla Goncharevich: “At the entrance to the thicket, we saw a lot of hoof marks from bison. People said that not long before this, a whole herd passed by. Perhaps the animals scared Maxim.
10 year old Maxim Markhaliuk, a resident of the village of Novy Dvor, Svisloch district, has been searched since September last year, but so far - to no avail. Through Belsat, local residents are asking for help.
“I applied in order to establish justice. To turn to the head of state so that all these scoundrels who wanted to deliberately hide their tracks, or unintentionally, be held accountable,” said a resident of Belovezhskaya Pushcha and a former huntsman Igor Akulov.
Ten-year-old Maxim did not return home on September 16, 2017. In the forest near the house, they found the boy's bicycle and his basket. Thousands of people took part in the search.
“I think that it was on this road that something happened to this child. Because not a trace, nothing of this child is left. Officials are skating, he could go out, vote in the evening, and it turned out to be a tragedy, ”Akulov is sure.
The search for the boy began at night. The whole road was dug up by the wheels of the participants of the trophy club "Belovezhsky Bison", who were invited to search. The road leads from the Voytov bridge farm, where there is a hotel with a bathhouse, which belong to the Office of the President, through Novy Dvor, where the boy lived, to the lake, which is rented by the SEC.
“In that hotel, officials and local nobility often rest. On this road they rush like mad, drunk, ”the former huntsman testifies.
special road
For officials, an asphalt road was laid here, not marked on the maps, with security and surveillance cameras. It connects the hotel in Voitov Most with the village of Borki and leads to the airfield in Klepachi.
“It was necessary to search immediately not according to the version of the disappearance, but according to the crime, I think. Because they searched so much, but no results, ”says another local Mikhail Sushko.
Investigation raises questions from experts
“From the very beginning of the disappearance of Markhaliuk, the investigation dragged on for a long time - 10 days. Why was it drawn when it was necessary to react to it? ”, - the former investigator draws attention Oleg Volchek.
The boy could not get lost in the forest without a trace.
People in the village are afraid to talk about this topic. Are officials afraid of journalistic investigations?
“Everything needs to be neat. And right!!! Because there were a lot of interpretations. You have come, you have come from different channels, television, radio. There needs to be one interpretation! Because they take from different people who are deprived parental rights, and you are interviewing, they are pouring dirt there. All this must be done carefully ... Do you understand? (Smiling). Let's hope that you will do everything right ... ”, - said the chairman of the village council Vladimir Zdanovich.
Loading...