Body of Swimmer Found in Bosphorus Without Hands and Head
Nikolai Svechnikov«s body will be transported to Moscow — his family has opened a fundraiser for this.
The body of swimmer Nikolai Svechnikov, who went missing after a swim in the Bosphorus, was found almost six months after his disappearance. The day before, Turkish rescuers discovered a man«s body in a wetsuit with tattoos in the strait. The athlete»s family flew to Istanbul for identification and a DNA test. An examination showed that the body indeed belongs to Nikolai Svechnikov. We tell everything known about the investigation of the tragedy at this hour.
The swimmer«s body was discovered less than a kilometer from the finish line.
Candidate for master of sports in swimming Nikolai Svechnikov took part in a swim across the Bosphorus Strait in August 2025. The athlete started together with three thousand participants but never reached the shore. The search for the Russian began only 12 hours after the first reports that one of the swimmers did not finish. As relatives and friends of Nikolai say, he was an experienced swimmer and was capable of covering the distance. Crossing the bay was a long-standing dream of the Muscovite.
The first interview with the swimmer«s mother after arriving in Istanbul to identify the body.
Body Found in the Bosphorus
Galina Svechnikova was initially promised the test results the following morning.
Employees discovered a human corpse in a swimsuit during work to clean the Bosphorus water area on Tuesday, 20 January. The body was found off the coast of the Kuruceşme area in Beşiktaş — near the finish point. After that, employees called the police, and rescuers arrived at the scene. Police suggested that the body might belong to the missing swimmer and notified the family.
The first interview with Nikolai«s parents after the positive DNA test confirmation.
Nikolai«s relative Alena Karaman, who lives in Istanbul, went to the police and morgue for identification. In a conversation with our colleagues from MSK1.RU, she suggested that »it«s 99% likely to be him.»
The investigation into the Svechnikov case is still ongoing.
Nikolai«s mother and father flew from Russia to Turkey and also requested assistance from the Russian General Consulate in Istanbul.
In the evening of the same day, the body of the man found in the Bosphorus was delivered to the morgue of the Istanbul Institute of Forensic Medicine. Alena went there to understand the circumstances of the death. But she was not allowed into the morgue itself.
«They are not letting me identify the body because I am not a close relative,» Alena reported.
The woman reported that a prosecutor handling the investigation arrived at the morgue. To help forensic experts determine the identity of the unknown man, Alena handed over several photographs of the missing Nikolai that could aid in identification.
«I gave a photo of the groin tattoo to the forensic expert. She took it from me to compare it with the body of the found man, but said that only the parents can ultimately answer whether it is Nikolai or not,» Alena told our colleagues.
‘I Really Hope It«s Not Him’
The next day, Nikolai Svechnikov«s parents flew to Istanbul for a DNA test and identification. At the airport, they were met by a correspondent from MSK1.RU.
«We will definitely look (at the body found in the Bosphorus. — Ed.), because he has certain tattoos. A mother knows her son, in any case I need to see him. That is the first desire. I don»t know if an autopsy has been done yet. If it is him, then I really want to know what happened to him,« she said.
Galina admitted that she flew to Turkey «with a sense of dread.» Despite the coincidences, she did not want to believe until the last moment that it was her son found in the strait.
«Now many media outlets are writing that it is definitely him,» Galina Svechnikova said.
I want to take the DNA test, to see him.«
She said she learned about what happened from Alena. Then she saw footage of the body extraction in Turkish media.
Results of the DNA Test
The family gave a DNA sample but was not allowed to identify the body. According to her, the body could only be shown if the examination results were positive.
«They took DNA from me and from Nikolai»s father. The result will be tomorrow. They did not show us the body,« Galina Svechnikova told MSK1.RU after leaving the Istanbul morgue. »Very heavy feelings, because we wanted to see our son… Possibly, it is him. Very hard.«
In the evening of the same day, without waiting for morning, experts confirmed that the body belongs to Nikolai Svechnikov. Galina could barely hold back tears. She said that, despite the confirmation of identity, she would go again to the Istanbul morgue for identification.
Information about the DNA test results was also communicated to Nikolai«s wife; at the time of the call, she was alone. Antonina did not come to Istanbul due to a young child, who turned one year old in December.
«Pain, despair, some monstrous injustice. Why is it like this, I don»t understand. Very painful,« Galina shared with the publication.
Identification at the Morgue and Inconsistencies in the Case
The next day, Alena Karaman said that the family was given a protocol on the completion of the procedure. At the morgue, parents were shown photographs of the deformed body on a screen, then brought to it; the corpse lay in a closed bag. The mother could only touch her deceased son.
The family«s lawyer Alperen Chakmak said that determining the exact cause of death will take from three months to half a year — this will be difficult since the body lay in water for five months. He also added that after the autopsy, the family had questions: it turned out in the police that the corpse has no head and hands.
«Most likely, they will write »drowned« (death from asphyxiation in water). At the same time, we have serious questions. In the police, I learned that the corpse has no head, no hands. If fish had eaten it underwater, the bones would have remained. Fish eat skin, meat, but bones remain.
When we asked experts on the side, they said, well, the body got into a ship«s propeller or motor, and the head was torn off. But that is also not very logical,» he explained.
The lawyer also reported that the swimmer«s relatives will apply for compensation. The situation is complicated by the fact that Svechnikov did not have insurance as a participant in the swim.
To the question from the MSK1.RU correspondent about whether the swim organizers are in contact with the family, the lawyer stated that he had tried several times to establish contact with them. But there was no response.
«We tried several times to contact the organizers, but could not establish any contact. However, here is the thing: whether it is our statement to the prosecutor»s office or the case on the conducted search and rescue operations — in all of them, there are our contact details, as well as the consulate«s. That is, everyone involved in this incident already has contact information,» he explained.
Now Nikolai«s family is handling the paperwork. They opened a fundraiser to transport his body to Moscow. The National Olympic Committee of Turkey refused payments to the family.
Earlier, Nikolai«s mother Galina offered a reward of one million rubles (approximately $10,000 at current rates) to learn any information about her son»s fate. In early December 2025, she went to Turkey to get an answer from local authorities. Even psychics joined the search. We published a lengthy interview with Galina Svechnikova, who came to the shores of the Bosphorus on her son«s 30th birthday. Returning to her homeland, the swimmer»s mother appealed for help to Vladimir Putin.
Everything known about Nikolai Svechnikov«s disappearance and death is collected in a separate story.
