home » landscape design » The search for a 10-year-old maxim in Bialowieza. Strange disappearance in Belovezhskaya Pushcha

The search for a 10-year-old maxim in Bialowieza. Strange disappearance in Belovezhskaya Pushcha

Every year, the Belarusian police receive about five hundred statements about missing people. Someone returns home on his own, the rest, as a rule, are found in less than ten days. Volunteer searches in Belarus are organized by the Angel search and rescue team (in Russia, such searches are organized by Liza Alert). It is a private organization that exists on donations. Minsk journalist Aleksey Karpeko, together with volunteers, took part in the search for ten-year-old Maksim Markhaliuk last fall. He wrote about one day of Belarusian volunteers in Belovezhskaya Pushcha for "My friend". “This is perhaps the largest volunteer search operation in the history of independent Belarus,” Karpeko explained. “In just six months, the story has acquired so many rumors and legends that it is already possible to shoot a series about it in the style of Twin Peaks.”

Maksim Markhaliuk went missing on September 16th. Taking a bicycle, he left in the evening for mushrooms in the forest. And disappeared. It was swallowed up by the famous Belovezhskaya Pushcha, the remains of a relic primeval forest, which has been preserved in Belarus and Poland, divided between them. They say that in the depths of the forest, where not everyone is allowed, ancient pagan temples have been preserved.

On the very first day of the disappearance, near the hut where the local children gathered, Maxim's bicycle was found, as well as a basket with mushrooms, on which there were prints of an unknown person. No more traces were found.

3 am

A car with volunteers met me on the outskirts of Minsk, in Uruchcha. It was early morning, which is still inseparable from late night. We had to go to the outskirts of Belarus, and the meeting in the volunteer camp was scheduled for nine in the morning, and it was not worth being late.

Belarus at five o'clock in the morning is enveloped in fog. Milky white, it hugs trees, lies in hollows and fields, smokes over ponds, lakes and rivers. The disk of the sun in the morning fog is crimson, red-hot, you look at it through a thick veil of fog.

Sleeping, forgotten country. Passing the morning provincial towns, or, as they say in Belarus, “meastechki”, you see deserted streets, a wooden idol on the central square, a “kastsel” (church) and a church located nearby. Abandoned synagogues as signs of bygone times.

9 am

The agro-town Novy Dvor is located in the Grodno region, in the south-west of Belarus, not far from the border with Poland, on the territory of the National Park "Belovezhskaya Pushcha". The population is only 782 people, according to the 2013 census. The city has a church and an abandoned synagogue. This is a small typical town of Belarus, thrown in the middle of the forests.

More than a thousand volunteers from all over the country gathered in the camp. There are equally many men and women here. In the morning it is cold, cloudy: as if it were not raining. The quadrocopter buzzes in the air. All in reflective vests, in camouflage clothing. Some wrap their feet in cellophane and duct tape to protect themselves from ticks. Connoisseurs look at this with a grin, because the legs sweat like hell in such conditions, and sweat does not evaporate due to cellophane.

The volunteers who came here are more like a motley rabble from the world of "Mad Max" or "Stalker". Just not enough guns. But almost every man has a hunting knife dangling from his belt.

The volunteer camp was spread out on the territory of the school stadium. Here they distribute food, pour hot tea and coffee, give out water. All this is done by volunteers. People send here cereals, stew, instant puree, coffee, tea, sugar, water. The school and the local executive committee allowed the use of their premises for the weekend.

Volunteers are divided into groups and sent to search. Each group has from 20 to 80 people, depending on how large the areas they will be checking. In addition to volunteers, there are always representatives of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and foresters in the detachment.

The entire area around the village is divided into squares. Volunteers are sent to check only the forest, rescuers and the military are engaged in swamps, and divers are engaged in reservoirs.

A separate camp on the outskirts of the town is the Ministry of Emergency Situations with its "turntables", the state press, investigators and the military. There is no access for mere mortals.

The feeling of self-activity did not leave from the very beginning. Every now and then, over the speakerphone, they announce that they are looking for among the volunteers experienced trackers, hunters, or at least just those who know how to use a compass and navigate the map. It turns out that a huge number of profane people arrived who did not have any knowledge of how to look for people in the forest.

Helicopters of the Ministry of Emergency Situations fly overhead, they circle over the forest all day in an attempt to notice a boy among the trees. At night, they also check the surrounding area with a thermal imager. The cinematic feeling of what was happening did not leave me from the moment we drove into the camp. A gang of volunteers on ATVs swept past me, their faces covered with bandanas.

The air is thick with anticipation. Everyone feels impatience before going out into the forest and a slight excitement. Some have been here since Friday, some just arrived. But everyone is cheerful, they drink coffee from plastic cups discussing the latest rumors.

Rumors spread quickly and are most often completely unreliable. They are filled with mystery and local madness. Allegedly, somewhere they saw some boy at the edge of the forest, but he, noticing the volunteers, ran away, or that they saw a guy from a helicopter who was hiding among the trees. All these conversations and rumors are not confirmed in any way and are most often officially refuted, but this does not prevent people from believing in them.

In the company next to me, they are briskly arguing about what happened to the boy, here this is the most common topic:
- I'm telling you, the locals are hiding something.
- You're paranoid.
- Yes? Then why did the boy's parents stop contacting the press? Why did the mother of the missing man forbid the investigators to communicate with their eldest son? They know something, but they don't tell anyone.

I'm in a squad of 80 people. We have only six coordinators and three walkie-talkies. The coordinators are young boys and girls, twenty-five years old, from the regional branches of the Angel search squad. Although they are experienced in searches, they clearly lack the ability to lead, the guys are not ready for such a large number of people.

Around 10 am

Once in the old UAZ of the regional Ministry of Emergency Situations, we, bouncing on the pits, head towards the desired section of the forest. When we pass through the village, the locals look indifferently at the column. They stand at the fences, talking among themselves about something, but there are no emotions on their faces. Looking at it from the UAZ window, one of the rescuers remarks:
- You look, the locals don't care anymore, only visitors participate in the search.
- Well, what, life goes on, and the potatoes are not harvested, and the mushrooms are flooded like crazy.
- They drove people from two regions. I heard that the special forces of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the soldiers were driven into the swamp to check. And yesterday, all night long, helicopters circled over the forest with a thermal imager, they say, they found a couple of points, then we were sent there. And there was nothing there.
- And the volunteers?
- Volunteers were not touched, only us. We are state people, we can, but we are on a salary.
Did you hear what they said today? Drive the guy like an animal.
- Yes, they have come, he is already like a beast for everyone. They want to drive him out of the forest like an animal.
- Yes, you look at them, all with knives, they are not shy about anything.
- Well, what did you want, they say to everyone that lynxes and wolves are found here. We have a lynx on every tree, which strives to jump on someone.

Around 11 am

Our square turns out to be about five kilometers from the village.

A chain of our group is lining up along the road. It stretches for four hundred meters. They give a quick briefing, explaining how to move, when to stop, what to check and what to look for.

In the forest, the chain of people is constantly torn, someone runs forward, someone, on the contrary, lags behind. Either they scatter from each other, then they huddle together. Most of the volunteers are participating in the search for the first time, they are inexperienced, wayward and think they know what is right. The larger the group, the more difficult it is to coordinate it, and if there are few walkie-talkies, then it is almost impossible.

The forest we entered was not yet “the same forest”, although there were plenty of windbreaks and impassable places in it. The sun came out and it started to heat up.

The chain moves slowly, we often stop, this annoys many. From time to time disputes break out with the coordinators, someone does not like the way they lead.

“Vanya, turn off this radio and go as we go, we won’t stop, otherwise we’ll walk one kilometer all day,” the guy with the inscription “Ivatsevichi Ultras” on his T-shirt is indignant. - Did these coordinators even finish school? Or even an army? We recruited from ads.

Vanya gets angry and swears at the coordinators. A minute later, the chain of people stands again.

The farther we went from the road, the more primitive and beautiful the forest became. Sunlight filtered through the foliage, and its rustling drowned out other sounds. The morning chill is gone. People who dressed warmly were covered with sweat, quickly tired, they were hot. Little water was taken.

Soon we come across a barn-feeding trough, where bales of hay are piled up.

Someone expressed the hope that Maxim was there. But there was no one inside. Having passed the first section of the forest, we go out onto the field. People scattered so far from each other that the last ones left the forest only ten minutes later. We walked a little over a kilometer, which took about half an hour. Searches in this area turned up nothing.

Local Ministry of Emergency Situations leave after the first searches. Like, they had an order to check only this forest, and they are returning to the base for further instructions. We will see them only in the evening, when we return to the base: they will lie imposingly on the grass and rest.

“It is very difficult when there are many locals in the detachment. He has been collecting mushrooms in these forests for twenty-five years and believes that he knows how to search correctly, such people constantly need to be convinced to do something, time and effort are wasted on this, which could be directed to searches, ” - one of the coordinators shares his opinion.

Our squad was divided into three smaller groups. One went through the forest in the opposite direction, towards the cars. The other two went off to check the small groves.

In the distance, on the outskirts of the forest, some figure in a red vest is visible. According to the descriptions, the guy was just like that. The coordinators send one of their own to check. But soon he comes back, lathered, agitated. It turns out that it was one of the military that stand at the crossroads and at various inspection points to track movements from different sectors. However, this news was not his main:
- I'm walking through the forest, looking - a dog. I think I got lost. And then I come a little closer and I see that fucking it's not a dog, but a fucking WOLF. Well, I backed away and slowly, slowly dumped from there. It is better not to climb these forests alone.

We come across a field to a pure pine forest. The wind blows through it, there are no bushes here, only moss and tall pines. There is nowhere to hide. At the edge of the grove they find a jacket of a child's size, which the spiders have already managed to settle in and weave small cobwebs there, worn-out shoes are lying nearby. And although the jacket and boots do not fit the description, some people begin to play detectives:
- That is, you think it's normal, - asks one of the girls, who loves to voice various "terrible" versions of what happened to the missing boy, - that some children's clothes are just lying around in the forest?
- What do you think, is there some kind of pagan cult operating here, like in True Detective? one of the volunteers lifts her up.

The girl pauses, but she is clearly not satisfied with the answer.

The coordinators take pictures of the jacket and boots, mark the place on the map and move on. Having passed the pine forest, we again find ourselves in the field. Now we unite with the second group from our detachment.

At the next halt, some volunteer shares a chocolate bar with me. The wind shakes the grass. As far as the eye can see, we are surrounded by tight trees swaying in the wind, and fields. Apart from our group, there is not a soul around. Deserted. Here you feel the primitive power of this place, its chthonic nature. The forest does not do only good or only evil. She is nature itself - punishing and giving.

The people who went to the cars did not return.

A huge number of different bones and skulls are lying around the forest. It is understandable: in this forest there are wolves, and bears, and foxes. But animals avoid meeting with large groups of people.

We enter another grove - a continuous windbreak. And then screams from somewhere on the side:

"AAA, FUCK, FUCK YOU, AAAAA!"

The crackling of branches is heard, someone breaks out of the thicket to the field, not making out the road. I just have time to think: “Shit, they ran into a bear...” A roe deer flies out of the forest and jumps across the field.

At the next halt, Mikhail comes up to me, about thirty years old, an experienced hunter, came here from Grodno, says that his ten-year-old son was torn with him, but, fortunately, he did not take him - and does not regret:
- Our search is not so much a hope to find him alive, but to learn about his fate in general. It is unlikely that he is still alive. Because it can't be that so many people have been looking for it for more than a week and couldn't find anything.

Toward evening we set off on our return journey. After checking a few more sections of the forest, we go out onto the road and are already walking along it.

“This is the first time in our memory such a complex and massive search. Usually, we have thirty or forty people at most involved in the search, but this time the numbers are already in the thousands. Of course, the organization is chaotic, no one has dealt with such a large number of people, - says the coordinator. “We had searches and five days when the grandmother got lost in the forest, we later found her alive, she slept peacefully in some kind of hollow, and all these days she ate berries and plants.”

In almost seven hours of searching, we found several unidentified footprints, several jackets, one of which was for a child, and old boots of the fortieth size, which were unlikely to belong to a ten-year-old boy. Other groups also found nothing.

The boy disappeared, as if he had been swallowed up by the Belarusian Khton.

There will be no outings at night. The Ministry of Emergency Situations plans to once again check the entire forest with the help of a thermal imager on helicopters. But this search, like the previous ones, will give nothing.

Volunteers disperse, start a criminal case. True, the version with the kidnapping or murder will not be the main one. The swamps will be repeatedly checked. All reservoirs in the district will be explored by divers. Cynologists with dogs will scour the forest. Even psychics will participate in this.

But the guy was never found.

In the evening I am leaving by a passing car back to Minsk. Many stay for the second day, but few hope to find the boy alive. We drive out to the main street of the Novy Dvor agro-town, the locals are still standing near their fences, looking at the cars of volunteers. The sun is setting.

The heart of real Belarus lives in half-empty villages, in the exclusion zone, in the villages on the Western Bug and in the villages of the northern lakes, in the midday heat of the Belarusian mestechak squares. In old, empty, already almost forgotten farms far from the main roads. In the dense Belovezhskaya Pushcha or in the swamps of Yelnya, in the forests cut by rivers and flooded in the spring.

There will be new searches, which will also bring nothing. And life for others will go on.

Neither the initiation of a criminal case nor the announcement of a wanted list brought any answer to the question of where the boy was. There is still no news about the already 11-year-old Maxim missing in the Grodno region. None. “Mom Valentina perked up so much when they began to say that they might have seen him in Poland. There was hope, and then even more disappointment.” they say in the village.

Recall that Maxim Markhaliuk from the village of Novy Dvor, Svisloch district, disappeared on the evening of September 16. The boy asked his mother to ride a bike somewhere at half past six in the evening. Brother, who goes for mushrooms, is like at the edge of the forest. At eight in the evening, the boy's mother, Valentina, became worried and began to look for her son. In the forest, near the hut, where children usually play, Maxim's bike. Some time later, one of the mushroom pickers told the volunteers that he allegedly saw the boy in the forest. No more traces of Maxim in the forest (clothes, a basket, prints of someone's footprints - all these finds of volunteers, as it turned out, did not belong to the boy).

"Angel": we still help with information

The search for Maxim in Belovezhskaya Pushcha has already gone down in history as the largest. In the first two weeks, from 500 to 2200 people searched for the boy every day - volunteers from all over the country, soldiers, police, employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, as well as special equipment - helicopters with thermal imagers, drones ... People combed the territory within a radius of 20-25 kilometers, helicopters with thermal imagers flew even 100 kilometers from the village.

- For our part, we are now helping with information. Our volunteers post orientations in all cities and villages of the country,- says the commander of the AKP "Angel" Sergei Kovgan. Angel and CenterSpas coordinated hundreds of volunteers who were looking for Maxim for more than two weeks.

- Unfortunately, since the disappearance of Maxim, we have not received any information that the boy was seen or noticed somewhere,- concludes Sergei.

The UK is investigating a criminal case, the police continue to search. No information

Meanwhile, the police and the military are still looking for the boy and are leaving for Novy Dvor. In early October, even the riot police combed the Pushcha. The Internal Affairs Directorate of the Grodno Regional Executive Committee noted that all this time, law enforcement officers and employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations did not stop searching and considered all possible versions.

- On Saturday, 20 police officers were looking for the boy, today about 100 servicemen from Minsk joined them,- added to the ATC.

The Office of the Investigative Committee for the Grodno region also has no information about the missing Maksim. The criminal case on the missing person has been under investigation since September 26. They also say here that no version, even a criminal one, is ruled out. After reports from the Polish side that a 10-year-old boy was seen 100 kilometers from the border, Maxim was put on the international wanted list. Since October 6, it has been on the Interpol website. But for now, silence.

- The investigation is underway. There is no additional information, we have already made all the statements,- Sergey Shershenevich, official representative of USK in the Grodno region, dryly told Onliner.by.

Principal of the Novodvorskaya secondary school: “We do not leave hope. In fact, there is no child

In the Novy Dvor itself, at the mention of the name of Maxim, they only shrug and sigh. On October 10, the boy had a birthday - he turned 11 years old. The villagers hoped that they would still find Maxim by his birthday, but the child is still missing.

- Absolutely no news. Nobody tells us anything. The Investigative Committee works and does not share anything with us,- says Alla Goncharevich, director of the school where Maxim's mother works. - If our parents knew anything, we would know too. And so... Absolutely nothing. We do not leave hope. In fact, there is no child. But you never know, there are different fantastic cases. This is not a standard situation. In a simple situation, we had to find him right away at night, well, let it be on Sunday. Well, at least on the third day. The situation is simply unusual. There have already been such searches that it is impossible to come up with, even think of something. All guesses are already at the level of fantasy. From the experience of books, movies and life. It's hard to come up with something new.

According to Alla Ivanovna, of course, the mother is most worried about her son.

- You pass Maxim's mother, she's at work, you don't want to say anything and ask. Nothing to say, nothing to ask. If she had any information, then everyone would already know. So what do you say? Once again to excite - it is simply impossible. After all, every time she again experiences tragedy. It can be seen that the person is thinner, emaciated - one cannot look without pain and tears. Remember when there was information about the Polish trail? So she straight up perked up when they said. And now... Now she has this condition again...

Valentina herself does not particularly want to talk to reporters.

- And what can I say if there is no information,- she explains in a quiet, exhausted voice. - I call but no information...

Two days after the disappearance of the child, the whole country learned that on September 16, a ten-year-old Maxim Markhaluk from the village of Novy Dvor, 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.

The main version of law enforcement agencies is that 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.

A year ago, on September 16, in a small village on the outskirts of Belovezhskaya Pushcha. The child, who went into the forest and still has not returned, was searched not only by the police, the military and rescuers, but also by thousands of volunteers from all over Belarus. Where the child could have disappeared is still unknown. Sputnik correspondent Inna Grishuk went to Novy Dvor to find out how the infamous village lives a year after the mysterious disappearance of a schoolboy.

You go into the forest and look under every bush

When I asked if they remember, the locals say: “It would be better if they didn’t exist at all. But Maksimka didn’t disappear.” The disappearance of a quiet and calm fifth grader divided the life of the village into "before" and "after". AT Last year villagers can only dream of a quiet life.

It turned out that since September 2017, people have been living in tension, excitement and fear of uncertainty, they have learned what an interrogation is, many have passed a lie detector.

On the eve of the black date, ordinary life goes on in the village. Taking advantage of the warm weather, the villagers are trying to dig up potatoes as soon as possible, working in the field until dark. Several women unloading a briquette in the yard say that the loss of a child in their village is no reason to be afraid of the forest. No one will be able to refuse hiking in the forest, because you can earn an extra penny on the gifts of nature.

“We always remember about Maksimka. You go into the forest and look under every bush. What if something is found,” says Valentina.

According to the observations of the woman, this year there were noticeably fewer people in the forest.

“It’s not because of the loss, it’s just that the summer was dry, there were no mushrooms in the forest. Now mushrooms and chanterelles have gone, but potatoes have begun. As soon as they dig up, they will immediately go to pick mushrooms,” explains Valentina.

The parents of Maxim's friends noticed that children now remember him less often, although it is clear that they miss his company. The boys now try to go less often to that hut on the edge, next to which they found the bike of the missing schoolboy.

Mysticism on Zarechnaya Street

A mother of many children from Zarechnaya Street rocks her little son and tells how she had to communicate with investigators, the police, and act as witnesses. Since October last year, she had another responsibility. The woman started a correspondence with psychics from Belarus, Poland, Canada and other countries. These people last year somehow came to her through social media, asked to help with checking their versions, and she agreed.

“I’m worried about Maksimka, I couldn’t refuse them, I want this story to unravel as soon as possible, so I keep in touch with them,” Alla explains.

Mostly they communicate with Alla, who are sure that the child is not alive, that the boy is somewhere in the village, many of them are sure that they need to look in the area of Zarechnaya Street.

Periodically, they ask to check some versions or take photographs of certain places, and then they find mysterious symbols that give the woman and her acquaintances goosebumps.

“How can you not believe them if they indicate the place and guess such details that are impossible to know. About a horse, about a green bag in the corner or a sideboard,” says one of Alla’s acquaintances, who helped her with checking one of the places named by psychics.

“They say that they feel Maxim’s soul in the village and the water next to him, but the mother’s tears can also be water. Outwardly, we don’t see this, but who knows what a person has in his soul, maybe at night he cries bitterly into a pillow. To check everything for sure, you need to talk to your mother, but she doesn’t want to,” the woman adds.

The interlocutor says that the police, although they do not believe in the versions of psychics, sometimes use their advice. But many villagers believe and discuss various scenarios of events, including those with the participation of their own neighbors. Now they have a distrust not only to all visitors, but also to each other. Until the boy is found and there is no exact version of what happened on that day, September 16, 2017, everyone will remain under suspicion.

Parents believe that alive

At the other end of the village, which is closer to Pushcha and Maksimka's parental home, there are more optimistic moods. Neighbors and close friends as one repeat: they have preserved the belief that the boy is alive.

“We all know that he is alive, this is where we have faith,” one of the neighbors says in a firm voice, putting her hand to the heart area.

The boy's mother, like last year, does not want to communicate. Neighbors and colleagues say that she is sure that her son will return home alive. He refuses to believe in other versions.

"Of course, the mother will believe to the last that the child is alive," says one of the women.

The locals are sympathetic to the grief of the family. We are sure that uncertainty torments relatives even more.

Conversations in the store: people are waiting for a miracle

On the doors of the local "Rodny Kut", where a notice about the search for a boy used to hang, hand-written announcements about discounts and hot offers are now pasted. The women say that the state-owned store started self-promotion when a private trader opened 20 meters away and attracted many customers. The new outlet almost immediately became a place not only for shopping, but also for sharing the latest news.

Vendors from the doorway invite you for shopping, treat you with tea and willingly tell you how the village lives. They have every resident in mind.

“I remember Maxim well when I worked in another store, he often came with his mother, a good, quiet boy. His mother often comes here, but no one climbs into her soul,” says the salesman Irina Cheslavovna in short periods of time, when no buyers.

Her partner Victoria says that everyone in the village is worried about the boy, discussing this story. Many recall a mysterious coincidence in the life of a boy. Exactly one year before his disappearance, he slipped while playing on the lake, fell into the water and nearly drowned. Then one of the adults who accidentally saw the child saved him.

“People are now waiting for September 16. They say that he drowned on September 15. Exactly a year later he disappeared. Maybe now, in a year, Maxim or some kind of clue will be found on this day,” Victoria reports the reasoning of local residents.

Belief in mysticism began to appear, because so far there is no news from the investigating authorities and the police.

"Why didn't they search right away? Everyone searches, searches and cannot find it in any way," one of the villagers says. The man stops her: "What can they find when the volunteers have trampled the whole forest?" And both agree that there is some kind of mystery in history, that the boy could not disappear without leaving any clues.

In the village they see that they are looking for a boy

The fact that search operations are still going on, the residents of Novy Dvor see with their own eyes. For a whole year, the village has been under scrutiny, and it is already beginning to tire many villagers. First, there were thousands of volunteers from all over Belarus who participated in a massive search campaign. They were replaced by the police, the military, investigators, who are constantly in the village and the immediate surroundings throughout the year.

“Earlier, everyone in the village was interviewed, in the spring they searched in the swamps, now in the summer they began to check abandoned houses again. My daughter was recently witnessed,” says Valentina from Lesnaya Street.

An employee of a local store said that she also received a call recently - she had to give the keys to the old house, which is now empty, and consent to a search.

“Everyone is trying to help, we know that the investigators need to find the boy as soon as possible,” explains Irina.

As Sputnik was told in the press service of the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Grodno Regional Executive Committee, this moment no comments on the case of the missing boy can not be given.

"So far we have nothing to tell," the press service briefly explained.

The child was searched all over the country

10 year old. In the evening, the boy went for mushrooms, and nothing is known about his whereabouts until now. On the same evening, in the forest, about 300 meters from the village, near the hut, Maxim's bicycle was found, as well as a basket of mushrooms. A little later it turned out that the basket did not belong to the boy.

The 20-kilometer zone was checked once by one of the services, and in 25 kilometers there was a selective check of places where the boy could get into logical or non-logical ways.

The child has been searched for a week and a half, but the largest search operation in the country does not produce results. How does it go? Komsomolskaya Pravda tells. [photo, video]

On the 10th day after the disappearance of the boy, a criminal case was opened. The search continues.
Photo: Sergey GAPON

1. How did the boy disappear?

It is known that on September 16, late in the evening, Maxim left home in the agricultural town of Novy Dvor, Svisloch district, Grodno region. He went to the forest for mushrooms. Since then, nothing has been known about him.

- 150 meters from the stadium there is a so-called base - a hut that was built by the boys. His bicycle and a basket of mushrooms were found in this hut. He and his friends picked mushrooms, sold them and bought building materials for their hut with this money - slate, nails. On the evening before the loss, the boy called his friends to go mushroom picking. Two refused and he went on his own- says one of the coordinators of the search and rescue squad "Angel" Dmitry.

True, it later turned out that the basket with mushrooms does not belong to Maxim, but the bicycle really is his.

The search for Maxim Markhaliuk has become the most resonant recent event in Belarus.
Photo: Sergey GAPON

2. When did they start looking for him?

On the same evening, when Maxim did not return home, relatives and neighbors went to the forest. Then the police, rapid response units of the Belarusian Red Cross Society and the search and rescue unit "Angel" joined in. After information about the missing boy appeared in social networks and in the news, first trained search volunteers from all over the country began to gather in Novy Dvor, and then ordinary civilian volunteers.

The Red Cross is also actively involved in search activities.
Photo: Sergey GAPON

3. How many people are involved in the search?

At the moment, Angela and the CenterSpas search and rescue squad, Red Cross volunteers, the military, police, employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, foresters are involved ... Plus, groups of ordinary caring Belarusians come every day who want to help in the search.

Over 1,000 volunteers signed up over the weekend- says the coordinator Dmitry.

On different days, from several dozen people to several hundred volunteers go out to search. Plus, rescuers, military, police and people who go into the forest "AWOL" - without coordinators and coordination with the headquarters.

The surroundings of Novy Dvor within a radius of 10-12 km were combed several times - no traces.
Photo: Sergey GAPON

4. Who is leading the search?

Until now, search and rescue operations have been led by a special headquarters created in Novy Dvor. It includes employees of the Internal Affairs Directorate, the Ministry of Emergency Situations and other specialists responsible for the search. Volunteers check maps with headquarters several times a day to note which areas have already been inspected, and where people or special equipment still need to be sent.

—The headquarters gives us squares. There are places where only narrow specialists, trained people are sent. The same swamps: volunteers will not pass there, Dmitry explains.

Caring people from all over the country come to search. Photo: Sergey GAPON

In addition, the headquarters decides when to raise the helicopters of the Ministry of Emergencies into the sky (from above they adjust a chain of people who comb fields and forests, inspect the territory within the search radius). There are also reports on the work of drones with thermal imagers that operate at night.

On the 10th day after the disappearance of the boy, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case. Now the search work and all other procedural actions will be coordinated by the investigators. The case was taken under personal control by the chairman of the Investigative Committee Ivan Noskevich.

Experienced volunteers know that it is better to go into the forest in rubber boots.
Photo: Sergey GAPON

5. What is the search work of volunteers?

Volunteers meter by meter comb the area where, presumably, Maxim was lost. Representatives of the search groups are specially trained people who know how to navigate the terrain, know how to organize volunteers and build the logic of searching on the ground. They act as coordinators in groups. - Unfortunately, there are often not enough coordinators for everyone. And that makes the job very difficult. City people come who have been in the forest a couple of times so far, picking mushrooms, but now they really want to help, for which we thank them. The coordinator needs to instruct them, but also then make sure that they themselves do not get lost, says the volunteers.

Each search group receives its task from the headquarters and works in a certain square.
Photo: Sergey GAPON

Groups from five to several hundred go out in search. Volunteers comb the forest, the surrounding fields: they walk in a chain at arm's length and carefully look under their feet and around. All abandoned buildings, silo pits, cellars, animal feeders in the forest are explored...

Volunteers are dressed in bright vests and instructed. The main rule is to obey the coordinator and not to step aside without asking.
Photo: Sergey GAPON

“We pay special attention to traces of vital activity. Cores, plucked sunflowers and corn cobs, for example. All that we find - traces, things, places to sleep, we transfer all this information to the headquarters, and, if necessary, the special forces of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, dog handlers, go to the place. Investigating traces is not our business, we are only looking, Dmitry adds.

Life in Novy Dvor goes on as usual, but the villagers actively help the volunteers by inviting them to stay for the night and bringing meals.
Photo: Sergey GAPON

6. What area has already been inspected?

- You can walk through the forest endlessly, but we tried to work out the version that the boy was lost in his native forest. We combed all the roads, orientations are hanging everywhere ... At a distance of 8 - 10 kilometers from here, impenetrable swamps begin, even an adult man cannot pass there. Before them, we all climbed, all bypassed. Nearby there is also the Novodvorskoye reservoir - divers worked there. Within a radius of the next 10 kilometers, we were repeatedly. Volunteers trample there all the time. There are no traces - the search engines cross out the surveyed places on the map several times a day.

The geography of the search is constantly expanding - the detachments combed the forest, farms and fields 15 - 20 km from Novy Dvor.

The building is checked even if the doors are closed, but a child could climb through the gap.
Photo: Sergey GAPON

7. What traces were found?

Until now, only Maxim's bicycle has been found - it was thrown near a hut in the forest, where the village boys had their own base. Volunteers also found shoe prints in the swamp, clothes in the forest, but all this has nothing to do with the missing person. There are no more hooks.

Immediately after the loss, a search dog was launched on the trail, but she went out onto the road and lost her scent. But this does not necessarily mean that the boy was taken away in a car or something like that.

From time to time there is information that a similar boy was seen somewhere in the surrounding villages. This information is checked, but so far it has never been confirmed.

Volunteers ask residents of farms and Pushcha villages if they have seen a boy who looks like Maxim.
Photo: Sergey GAPON

8. What versions of the boy's disappearance are being considered?

Until now, the main version was this: he is alive, but lost in the forest. Although the locals immediately said that Maxim knew the forest in the vicinity of the village very well - he even led the lost out of the forest.

However, volunteers model different scenarios.

—The fourth day was the most critical. Before that, it rained, and the boy was dressed lightly enough - this is an instant hypothermia. If something is not eaten, it is diarrhea, vomiting and, as a result, dehydration. I think if he moved, he walked no more than 1.5 - 2 or 3 kilometers, suggests the volunteer. — To the north, to the west, to the east of the village there are roads everywhere, everything is in clearings - it's very easy to get out! But we didn't find a single trace.

In abandoned buildings, they pay attention to traces of a recent overnight stay.
Photo: Sergey GAPON

Abandoned buildings are scrutinized under the scenario that a child is purposefully hiding for some reason. At the same time, there is no information that the boy could have problems at school or at home.

Rescue team coordinators communicate with each other by radio.
Photo: Sergey GAPON

9. How long will the search continue?

In the situational headquarters, which coordinates the search work on the spot, this question is answered briefly and dryly:

Until any result.

What lies behind this veiled formulation is not clear. Volunteers also plan to work as long as there are people who are ready to regularly participate in the search.

“Our job, the search and rescue team, is to rule out the version that the boy is lost,” notes Dmitry.

In the middle of a corn field, they noticed a booth - they checked it too.
Photo: Sergey GAPON

10. Are clairvoyant predictions taken into account?

Lately, the headquarters and volunteers have often received calls from people who claim to be psychics. In the search camp, they are skeptical about them - they need real help, and not indications that the search engines are working in the wrong direction. Nevertheless, some information is discussed and, if there is reason, checked. However, the boy has not yet been found.

On the abandoned farm, except for the volunteers, it seems that there was no one for a long time.
Photo: Sergey GAPON

Search work takes a lot of effort.
Photo: Sergey GAPON

Lunches and dinners for search engines are prepared by Red Cross volunteers.
Photo: Sergey GAPON

There is no shortage of food: the Belarusians have supplied the search camp with provisions, the villagers also help with food.
Photo: Sergey GAPON

Sometimes the detachment is divided into mini-groups and works out its direction.
Photo: Sergey GAPON

In some places the forest is very dense, there are a lot of fallen trees, but you need to check literally every meter.
Photo: Sergey GAPON

The forest is combed every day - and still the boy has not been found.
Photo: Sergey GAPON