She Searched for Daler, Never Slept for Days
On July 16, Natalia Volkova, founder of the Proryv search team, passed away. She was only 42 and had devoted the last ten years of her life to volunteering, rushing out at any time of day or night if someone needed help.
“Natalia could be tough when needed, but at the same time remained incredibly responsive and humane. She burned for her work, infected everyone around, and spared no effort. So many nights, so many trips into the forest, into the cold, into the unknown… And always with the belief that a person can be found and saved. For all of us, she was an example of devotion and kindness,” said the Association for the Search of Missing Children.
On behalf of the E1.RU editorial board, we offer condolences to Natalia«s family and friends. We suggest recalling five high-profile cases where, thanks to her dedication and love for people, the course of searches changed.
Search for Dima Peskov
Dima Peskov went missing on June 10, 2017. His mother, father, and child came for a vacation, crossed to the other side of the reservoir by boat, and set up a tent. After that, the father and son went into the forest, while the mother stayed at the tent. According to the father, the boy became fussy and asked to go back to his mother. The father let him go alone. The distance was about ten meters, but Dima got lost.
The boy could not find his way to the tent and wandered through the forest. Rescue teams from EMERCOM, search organizations, and hundreds of volunteers, including Natalia Volkova and her husband Nikolai, searched for the child. When after four days he was found alive, bitten by mosquitoes and ticks but otherwise healthy, it was almost a city-wide celebration. After that, the couple decided to continue volunteering, and on Natalia«s birthday, June 15, they founded their own search team.
“When we created the team, it was my husband, me, and two other people, family friends. I worked in the police for ten years, my husband is a hunter, well-oriented in the forest. We thought, we«d see online that someone is missing, call, and then people started learning about us. The group got 4,600 subscribers, and things started to take off. I was hooked right after the first search; I immediately knew this was my calling,” Natalia said in an interview with E1.RU.
This year Dima finished sixth grade. In the boy, now a head taller than his mother, the features of the frightened toddler that volunteers found exhausted in the forest are barely recognizable. We wrote more about his fate in this article.
Search for Ksenia Katorgina
Unfortunately, not all searches have a happy ending. The high-profile case of Ksenia Katorgina shook Yekaterinburg in the fall of 2019. On the evening of October 10, the young woman went to show her Audi Q5 to a potential buyer in Uralmash and vanished without a trace. Members of the Proryv team organized the general gathering and oversaw all volunteers. On October 15, Natalia Volkova announced the search was closed — Ksenia Katorgina«s body had been found.
“We officially close the search for Ksenia Katorgina. Found, deceased. Thank you very much for your help. In the interests of the investigation, we do not disclose further details. Thank you for your understanding,” Proryv said.
The murdered woman left behind a nine-year-old daughter. The girl lived with her maternal grandparents in Kamensk-Uralsky, but Ksenia wanted to bring her daughter to live with her and for that purpose bought an apartment in Verkhnyaya Pyshma on a mortgage. She was selling the Audi to partially pay off the debt. After her death, the loan was paid off by Ural businessman Igor Altushkin.
We have compiled all information about the investigation into Ksenia Katorgina«s murder in a special section.
Search for Daler Bobiyev
In June 2023, the whole country followed the search for five-year-old boy Daler Bobiyev in Yekaterinburg. Hundreds of volunteers, including the Proryv team, searched for him. It was they who informed the public that Daler«s body was found in a garage around 1 a.m. on June 29.
“Found, deceased.” We heard these terrible words in the early morning. A persistent smell was detected in an abandoned building, and dog handlers and an investigative team were called,” noted the Proryv search team.
The court established that the boy«s guardian, Veronika Naumova, was responsible for his death. She was sentenced to 24 years in a general regime colony (one year less than the maximum sentence for women). Recall that Daler»s biological mother, Olga Lyapustina, was stripped of parental rights. His father, Khudzhanoviddin Bobiyev, was serving time in a colony for burglary at the time. When the boy entered foster care, he was only two years old, and he spent most of his short life under the Naumovs« care.
Before the verdict, we recalled the timeline of events in this case and also published the defendant«s last words, in which she said there was no evidence of her guilt. After the verdict, new details emerged about how Daler lived in the Naumov family. All news on the topic can be found on a separate page.
Search for Yevgenia Kichigina
35-year-old Yevgenia Kichigina left her home on March 23, 2025, and never returned. Two crews from the Proryv search team immediately set out to search. The rescuers were met by relatives who showed where a camera last recorded the woman. She was believed to have headed toward a forest area.
After several hours of searching, volunteers found indentations that looked like tracks. Proryv leader Nikolai followed them step by step, crossing a field and a swamp. The search was complicated by the wind scattering the tracks. Despite the difficulties, Yevgenia was found. She was lying unconscious between two trees. Rescuers discovered she had frostbite and immediately began providing first aid.
“We rubbed her arms and legs to warm her. We wrapped her in warm clothes that the guys had brought. We tried to bring her to consciousness. We couldn«t waste a second,” Nikolai said.
Soon Yevgenia regained consciousness and began to talk. She was evacuated from the forest and taken to the hospital.
Search for Fyodor Medvedev
On September 18, 2025, Fyodor Medvedev went into the forest near Konzhakovsky Kamen for pine cones and did not return. The man had no food or water with him. Rescuers and volunteers scoured the area and flew drones over the taiga. He couldn«t even hear the sirens that the search team volunteers constantly sounded.
“I didn«t see a single sign of human existence, that there was anyone anywhere. I got to the road only thanks to the Lord God. It was God who led me out, because I prayed the whole time. My strength was running out, but I already knew I was saved because I was on the road. And literally an hour later, I saw a rescue vehicle coming. And then my strength left me. The moment I saw people, my legs gave out from under me,” Fyodor said.
On September 25, Fyodor himself reached the road at almost the same spot where he had entered the taiga. Volunteers met him literally 30 meters from his group«s camp. He was exhausted, and his hands were burned. He was met by volunteers from the Proryv search team and rescuers from RMC Search.
Read E1.RU«s guide on what to do if a loved one goes missing. We wrote about how to protect your child from abduction and how to teach children never to go with strangers under any circumstances. We also published advice on how to recognize someone who needs help.
