A haunting video from a Russian climber feared dead up a mountain has emerged, showing her insisting she was ‘not afraid to die’ on a previous adventure.
Mountaineer Natalia, also known as Natasha, Nagovitsina, 47, has been trapped at 22,965ft on Victory Peak in Kyrgyzstan, with a summit height of 24,406ft.
Nagovitsina was reportedly seen moving on drone footage just days ago. She was injured on August 12, when her climbing partner helped her as best they could before returning further down the mountain to get help.
But since then temperatures have sunk to minus 23C and repeated efforts to bring her down have failed, both by climbing and using a helicopter.
Now, footage from the 2022 documentary ‘Stay with Khan Tengri. Tragedy on the mountain’ has captured Nagovitsina saying she was ‘not afraid to die. I was afraid to be disabled’.
The expedition took place on August 8, 2021, where Nagovitsina and her husband, Sergei, climbed Khan-Tengri Peak, the second highest peak in the Tien Shan mountains, close to the borders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and China.
At around 10:32pm, her husband appeared to be in trouble as he could not sit, repeatedly fell on his side, and had confused speech.
Nagovitsina was urged to descend the mountain to find help but she refused.
Nagovitsina and her husband, Sergei, climbed Khan-Tengri Peak, the second highest peak in the Tien Shan mountains, close to the borders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and China, in 2021
Footage from the 2022 documentary ‘Stay with Khan Tengri. Tragedy on the mountain’ has captured Nagovitsina saying she was ‘not afraid to die. I was afraid to be disabled’
‘Natasha, you need to go down yourself. You won’t be able to help him in any way. Do you understand me? Over,’ rescuers said.
‘I understand everything, but I will not leave him alone,’ she was heard replying.
She was then urged again, as rescuers warned her of the worsening weather, and the fact that night time was quickly approaching.
‘You need to go down, Natasha, the weather is getting worse, night is coming soon,’ she was told.
But Nagovitsina was insistent on staying with her husband. ‘I will not leave my husband. He is completely helpless, I give him a drink,’ she is heard responding.
‘So, your decision is to spend the night next to him?’
‘Yes.’
She reveals her husband is ‘not well at all’. The climber explains how he is freezing as he is not moving, and is becoming delirious.
It was ultimately revealed that Sergei had suffered a stroke at 22,638ft.
In the documentary, Nagovitsina said: ‘You know, I was not afraid to die. I was afraid to be disabled, that I will get frostbite, they will take away my arms and legs, and what will I do!
‘In fact, this is it. Yes, this is the worst punishment. This is what worried me a lot and that we die – no’.
Rescuers eventually reached the pair and two men tried to move Sergei while she went down.
But they could not go far, and secured him with ropes, and left all their warm clothing and food, before cutting a route further down the mountain, to get more help.
When they were able to return, he was nowhere to be found.
Drone footage filmed just days ago showed clear movement from the sleeping bag she has been sheltering in
Russian mountaineer Natalia, also known as Natasha, Nagovitsina, 47, has been trapped at 22,965ft on Victory Peak in Kyrgyzstan, with a summit height of 24,406ft
Nagovitsina went viral in 2021 after she refused to leave her husband Sergei (right), after he suffered a stroke at 22,000ft
A report on the incident ruled: ‘Most likely in delirium he broke out of ropes and crashed to his death. His body has never been found.
‘A year later Natalia once again went to Khan Tengri to install a plaque in memory of her husband.
‘But no one in the new group had any idea what this courageous woman had lived through on that summit a year earlier – a woman who showed the whole world what love and self-sacrifice mean.’
Now, fears are rising around the safety and whereabouts of Nagovitsina after Italian climber Luca Sinigaglia, 49, one of those who attempted to rescue her and managed to deliver a sleeping bag, tent, food, water and a gas cooker to her, died on the mountain from prolonged exposure to low oxygen and hypothermia.
Eduard Kubatov, head of the Kyrgyz Mountaineering Federation, has said that it is ‘highly likely’ that Nagovitsina is no longer alive.
‘Due to severe weather conditions, climbers cannot get to Nagovitsyna,’ he told the BBC.
‘She has been at an altitude of seven thousand meters for more than nine days. This is practically incompatible with normal life, because at this altitude the body begins to die by 10% daily due to exhaustion and loss of strength.’
On Saturday, a final effort to climb to Nagovitsina was abandoned just 3,600ft below where she is stuck, with the weather set to worsen, as the team were ordered to return to base camp.
Previous attempts involved two separate helicopters, including a defence ministry Mi-8 helicopter which crashed as it sought to rescue her.
A final effort to climb to Nagovitsina was abandoned just 3,600ft below where Nagovitsina is stuck, with the weather set to worsen, as the team were ordered to return to base
The Kyrgyzstan Ministry of Emergency Situations confirmed the rescue mission has been called off
Previous rescue efforts for the climber failed due to bad weather
Another helicopter, a Mi-17VM, was sent, but zero visibility again forced rescuers to abandon the attempt.
Dmitry Grekov, rescue leader and head of base camp at Victory Peak, said that experienced mountaineer Vitaly Akimov had led a team seeking to climb to Nagovitsina.
But the crew was forced to turn around when started suffering back pain from the helicopter crash and the mission was abandoned.
Sinigagli, who had also been on the helicopter, was hailed a hero on social media after news of his death reached base camp.
‘I turned the whole group around, there were four of them,’ said Grekov.
Asked if Nagovitsina was still alive, he admitted he did not know but said: ‘I think not, because she has been there since 12 August – count how much time has passed.
‘It is unrealistic. It is unrealistic to survive at such an altitude.’
The Kyrgyzstan Ministry of Emergency Situations confirmed the rescue mission had been called off.
