Parents of Sinai terror attack victims share grief after loss

On October 31, 2015, the largest aviation disaster in Russian history occurred. A plane carrying tourists from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg was blown up in the sky over the Sinai Peninsula. On board the Airbus A321 of Kogalymavia were 224 passengers, including 25 children. All of them died.

Back home, families were waiting for them, whose lives were forever changed when the information board at Pulkovo Airport lost data on flight 9268. The relatives of the deceased waited for months for DNA testing to bury their loved ones. After that, they faced a struggle to ensure the tragedy was not forgotten.

MSK1.RU spoke with parents whose children died in the Sinai plane crash.

«Our grandchildren could have been nine»

In 2015, 33-year-old Nikolai Volkov«s life underwent radical changes. At the beginning of the year, he met 32-year-old Valeria Kantserova, and soon realized—he couldn»t live without her. The romance developed rapidly: already in June, Nikolai and Valeria moved into a new apartment, and at the end of September—they got married.

The idyll was marred only by the fact that Nikolai and Valeria were suddenly laid off. And on the same day. Before looking for new jobs, the newlyweds decided to take a break. The trip to Egypt was their honeymoon.

«Everyone was against this idea, because in 2014–2015 there were many terrorist attacks. We said to them with the co-mother-in-law: “Let us add some money for you. Go somewhere else.” To which my son said: “Mom, you can«t hide at home, terrorist attacks can happen anywhere,”»—recalled Nadezhda Volkova in a conversation with MSK1.RU.

On October 31, Nadezhda was at a funeral: her colleague«s husband had died—she needed to come and support the widow. As she was leaving the metro, her phone suddenly rang, and then, Volkova admits, everything was like a fog.

«The co-mother-in-law says: “Nadya, are you watching TV? A plane crashed, flight Sharm el-Sheikh—St. Petersburg. Ours aren«t there, are they?” I say: “They are.” I don»t even remember how I got home, how we went to Pulkovo, how we gave DNA. It was hell, the relatives of the deceased gathered, everyone was screaming,”»—Nadezhda told MSK1.RU.

They said goodbye to Nikolai and Valeria only on December 6. The city authorities allocated a plot for them at Serafimovskoye Cemetery. As Nadezhda admits, until the very funeral, she and Lera«s mother did not believe in the tragedy.

«We lived with a ghostly hope, although we understood there was nothing to hope for. But that«s how humans are. When we already received their bodies, then we realized—yes, this is the end. It was raining. It felt like the sky was crying, there were so many children on that flight,”»—she says.

Nadezhda recalls that after her son«s funeral, she wanted to quit her job, but her colleagues held her back.

«I told them then: “I can«t do it anymore, there»s no point in continuing.” To which they firmly stated: “You come to work and you work.” At first, they were wary of me, didn«t know what to say. And what can you say in such a situation? Nothing. It»s better to be silent than to say those stupid phrases: “Hold on, everything will be fine.” No, everyone understood that it would never be good again,”»—she sighs.

Amid the stress after her son«s death, Nadezhda faced serious health problems. Then, members of the charitable foundation »Flight 9268«, which was organized by relatives of the Sinai crash victims, came to her aid.

«My cemetery neighbor Olga, whose son and daughter-in-law died, always drives me to and from the hospital when needed, and helps with the dog. I didn«t expect there to be so many kind and responsive people around,”»—shares Nadezhda.

Nadezhda continues to communicate with the co-mother-in-law. The women meet at the cemetery when they come to visit their children.

«Kolya—he was my only son, and the co-mother-in-law«s Lera—her only daughter. We live only for them, with this pain. We wake up with them and fall asleep with them. As long as we are alive, the memory is alive,”»—reflects Nadezhda Volkova in a conversation with MSK1.RU.

«What happiness I had, my son»

In the Sinai crash, 56-year-old Andrei Filimonov lost his only son—25-year-old Alexei. The young man entered aviation on the recommendation of a neighbor. After graduating from the Institute of Physical Culture in Moscow, he decided to try something new. He dreamed of becoming a pilot, but started as a flight attendant.

«There was no one in the family connected to aviation. Random people don«t come into this field. Either it»s your calling, or you leave. My son was no exception. After being laid off from one airline, he couldn«t live without the sky. He returned, but to Metrojet (until 2012 »Kogalymavia«—Ed.),»—shared Andrei with MSK1.RU.

Alexei should not have been on the fatal flight. He was suddenly called from «reserve»: asked to replace a colleague whose young daughter fell ill. It started as a standard three-day business trip; the young man was supposed to return to Moscow on November 1. According to the flight attendant«s father, neither he nor Alexei himself had any premonitions.

The flight attendant«s father learned about the tragedy from a news broadcast. There was no precise information yet, but, as Andrei admits, he already knew then—a disaster had occurred.

«I managed to call the Metrojet office in St. Petersburg, they said: “There is no information about the passengers.” I told them: “Check the crew member.” There was a long, agonizing silence and the answer: “Unfortunately, Alexei was on this flight.” Then—screams, tears. It was the most terrible day of my life, like a kaleidoscope from horror movies,”»—he recalls heavily.

A couple of months before the tragedy, Alexei broke up with his girlfriend. The couple was supposed to meet and talk after the flight attendant returned from his business trip. Relatives recall that on that day, the beloved came to the Filimonovs« home—everyone cried together.

On the morning of November 1, the Filimonovs left for St. Petersburg. For several days, Andrei, along with other relatives of the deceased, monitored the progress of the search operation and listened to reports from the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

«On November 3, we were gathered and taken to Shafirovsky Crematorium, where the bodies and remains of the deceased had been delivered. The documentation and identification began. It was terrifying and agonizing. Why? For what? The tears of the relatives… The Emergency Services were excellent, a psychologist was assigned to each family,”»—he tells MSK1.RU with pain.

The farewell to Alexei took place on November 7; he was buried at Novo-Lyuberetskoye Cemetery. The authorities of the Moscow Region helped with the funeral arrangements: the city administration allocated a plot on the central alley—just a hundred meters from the family burial where Alexei«s grandmother and grandfather rest.

«In the first days, I tried to immerse myself in work. There was huge support from relatives and friends, and from my son«s colleagues at the airline. They came to visit us, remembered Alyosha, watched childhood videos and photos. On one hand, it was painful; on the other—it warmed my soul: what happiness I had, my son!”»—shares Andrei with MSK1.RU.

Andrei continues to communicate with other relatives of flight 9268 passengers and travels with his family to memorial events. According to him, this «helps to realize that you are not alone in your grief.»

«With all these people, we are united by one misfortune and understand each other. When communicating, we share stories about our children, remember what they were like. It creates the impression that we knew the deceased,”»—says Andrei.

According to him, every morning he starts with a prayer, and in difficult moments, he turns to Father Sergei—the rector of the Church of the Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessaloniki, which the relatives of the deceased are building together with the authorities in St. Petersburg.

«When it«s really hard, I ask my son for help. My beloved angel helps even in seemingly unsolvable situations. I really feel his support. He is always with me,”»—admits Andrei.

The relatives of the deceased plan to create a museum on the territory of the church in St. Petersburg. In it, as a memorial, the belongings of the deceased passengers could be stored.

«We have his flight documents, medical book, which were on board at the moment of the explosion. There is the airline«s lanyard with a pass to the airfield—the so-called »ID.« On the lanyard, you can still feel the Sinai sand under your fingers,”»—Andrei.

«We believe he is nearby»

29-year-old Roman Pulyanov flew to Egypt with his 27-year-old fiancée Tatyana Mokievskaya. They had been together for three and a half years, and in the spring of 2016, they planned to get married.

Roman lived for travel: he saved on everything, found good deals, and went abroad five to seven times a year. In September, he and his fiancée visited Crimea, and a couple of weeks later, he started talking about another trip. The summer of 2015 was rainy, the autumn—cold, and Tatyana had just been granted leave from work.

«Tanya wants to go somewhere warm, I can«t refuse,”»—Roman explained to his parents.

According to them, before the trip, their son returned and bought tickets several times. And a couple of days before the flight, he admitted to a friend that he felt uneasy about the upcoming journey.

During the vacation, Roman shared photos, praised Egypt, and admired the attitude of the locals towards tourists. On October 28, Anatoly called his son to find out what time he and Tatyana were arriving.

«He told me: “Dad, you don«t need to meet me.” I asked if his friends would meet him. You never know, maybe Alyosha, who saw him off at the airport, would do it. And suddenly he says: “No. No one needs to meet me,”»—Anatoly recounts one of the last conversations with his son to MSK1.RU.

Roman explained: there was no need for his parents to bother—they had enough of their own worries. Anatoly and his wife Larisa were busy building a dacha at that time: they were setting up a room for their son and fiancée—it was supposed to be ready for their arrival.

The day before the flight, father and son communicated longer than usual in a messenger, and nine hours before the crash, Roman wrote that he and Tanya had gone for a «farewell dinner.» At night, Anatoly couldn«t fall asleep—he even had to go out to the city to distract himself.

«In the morning, my mother-in-law was running around the apartment, fussing and saying: “Something«s wrong with Roma.” She didn»t know anything yet, but she had premonitions. I turned on the TV, and it was all there. I went to pick up Larisa, she was working around the clock then. The drive usually took 15 minutes, but this time it took 45. I stopped several times, didn«t know how to tell a mother that her child was gone,”»—admits Anatoly in a conversation with MSK1.RU.

The night was restless for Larisa as well. She recalls: a pigeon was beating against the window, doors were opening by themselves. In the morning, her replacement and boss were brief—they had learned about the tragedy before her but didn«t dare to tell her.

The couple submitted to genetic testing. On the 37th day, identification took place. To avoid traumatizing the relatives, at Shafirovsky Crematorium, investigators showed only photographs with fragments of the bodies.

«The investigator took a stack of photographs from the desk, twisted them in his hands, and was nervous. I only saw their back side, white. He asked: “Will you look?” I refused. He threw them in the drawer and said: “Well, that«s right.” And Tanya»s father looked, then in a private conversation admitted that he regretted it,”»—shares Pulyanov Sr. with MSK1.RU.

Roman and Tatyana were buried together at a cemetery in the Leningrad Region. As the Pulyanovs recall, in the first months, they almost went insane with grief. Larisa could no longer work, and after a while, Anatoly also quit. They decided to live without hustle: they sold their apartment in St. Petersburg and moved to the dacha.

«A year after the tragedy, we flew to Greece. We didn«t choose the seats; they were assigned at the check-in counter at the airport. It was an Airbus A321, and the seats—11D and 11E. Exactly the same as Roma and Tanya»s,”»—Anatoly tells MSK1.RU.

After their son«s death, the couple started traveling more often and visited places where Roman had dreamed of going. According to them, this way they continue Roman»s work and maintain a connection with him, and in return—he sends them signs.

«Recently, we were in Turkey. Before going to sleep, I mentally told my son that if he hears me, let him give a sign. Until his last days, Roma worked at a car dealership; one of the brands he sold was Chevrolet. In the morning, I went to breakfast at the restaurant, and at the next table—a family, mom and dad and two sons. One of them was named Roman, and throughout breakfast, he was rolling a car on the table. I looked closer, and it was a Chevrolet,”»—shares Anatoly.

Previously, we published a detailed chronicle of the terrorist attack over the Sinai Peninsula.