New witness in Dyatlov Pass case claims a hidden-microphone watch was used
A 90-year-old man named Viktor Iosifovich claims that Zolotaryov, a member of the Dyatlov group, carried a watch with a hidden microphone. The claim is unconfirmed, and no recordings have survived.
In an interview published by Russian media, 90-year-old Viktor Iosifovich has made claims about the 1959 Dyatlov Pass tragedy in the Ural Mountains, in which nine members of a Soviet skiing and hiking group died. The case has remained unsolved for decades and still draws public interest. The claims in the source are not backed by documents.
Iosifovich says he was a friend of prosecutor Boris Chudniy. According to him, investigator Lev Ivanov, who led the inquiry into the group's deaths, urged Chudniy to reveal the truth.
The watch claim
Iosifovich claims that Semyon (Alexander) Zolotaryov, the oldest member of the group, carried a pocket watch with a built-in microphone that recorded the group's conversations. He says the device contained capacitors rated at 4.7 microfarads and could pick up conversations via an antenna. He asserts that Zolotaryov was placed in the group at the request of the KGB (the Soviet state security service) and tasked with eavesdropping, since many military facilities were located in the Urals. One night, he says, a companion sleeping nearby noticed the watch and suspected it was not an ordinary one. Iosifovich states that he learned this from reliable sources. The recordings have not survived.
Zolotaryov was a war veteran decorated with orders and an experienced hiker who had taken part in trips in the Caucasus and Altai mountains. Some believe he was a secret intelligence operative.
The search leader's daughter
Natalia Maslennikova, daughter of Yevgeny Maslennikov, who chaired the Sverdlovsk Region Tourism Federation and led the search for the group, also spoke with the interviewer. She says her father found no traces of an avalanche, wild animals or the Mansi people, but mentioned that the young people may have experienced terror linked to some sound. He had reportedly signed a non-disclosure agreement.
What happened in 1959
The group, led by Igor Dyatlov of the Ural Polytechnic Institute, set up camp on the slope of Kholat Syakhl mountain on 1 or 2 February 1959. During the night, members cut the tent fabric from the inside with knives and left the camp inadequately dressed, although the air temperature could drop to minus 40 degrees Celsius.
