The first deputy general director of VK (formerly Mail.ru Group) Vladimir Gabrielyan and the director of the procurement company Sergey Merzlyakov died in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (NAO).

This was announced on Tuesday by the press service of the holding.

“This morning it became known that Vladimir Gabrielyan and Sergey Merzlyakov died as a result of a tragic accident.

We mourn with family, friends and relatives," the message reads.

Vladimir Gabrielyan with his wife Elena and his friends Sergey Merzlyakov and Sergey Olsevich decided to cross the Bugryanitsa River on two Sherp all-terrain vehicles.

The current of the river began to carry the all-terrain vehicles into the White Sea, they turned over.

Sergey Olsevich and Elena Gabrielyan were able to get out of their all-terrain vehicle and escaped.

They saw how the car, in which Gabrielyan and Merzlyakov were, was carried away further downstream.

The chairman of the Union of Reindeer Breeders of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Vladislav Vyucheisky, told RT that, having learned about the incident, he called the inhabitants of the nearby village of Shoina, who volunteered to help.

“When I found out about what had happened, I called Nikolay Kanyukov, a resident of the village of Shoina.

In 15 minutes, they and their son Peter went out on their boat to the White Sea without approvals and orders.

Simple heroes who know what the sea is and the value of simple human life, ”Vyucheisky told RT.

According to him, usually local tourists turn to reindeer herders for help.

However, this group did not have a guide for some reason.

“We help travelers and tourists, our reindeer herders actually saved Willem Barents in the 16th century.

There was already ice drift in those places, and the knowledge of the indigenous peoples of these places would not allow tourists to find themselves in such a dangerous situation, ”says Vyucheisky.

"Two days went to the hut"

Nikolai Kanyukov, who saved Elena and Sergey, told RT the details of the incident.

From his words it follows that the emergency happened a few days ago.

“These survivors were driving second, their all-terrain vehicle was out of order and could not go fast.

And the first two rushed forward and gave the command to the second crew to follow them.

Ten minutes later, the first Sherp disappeared from communication.

The radio station fell silent with them - that's all.

We turned over in the river, there is a waterfall and a strong current, we have a spring here - a flood.

In general, the first Sherp fell into the waterfall,” Kanyukov said.

According to him, the crew of the second all-terrain vehicle waited a long time for a signal from the passengers of the first Sherpa - a shot from a rocket launcher or at least a fire, but there were no signals.

By that time, the flood on the river had turned over the second Sherp, so the man and woman had no choice but to walk back in their footsteps to the nearest settlement. 

“From the place where we took them to the settlement of Shoina, 40 km by sea.

For two days they walked and reached the gatehouse hut - they stoked the stove there, dried the satellite phone, warmed the battery for it.

We were able to call the Ministry of Emergency Situations on this satellite phone, and then everything started to spin.

They were already in a normal state, the shock had passed and the fright from the fact that they turned over.

Today at six in the morning they were delivered to Naryan-Mar,” Kanyukov said.

According to him, tourists have been coming to their region for the second year already - and everyone wants to get to Cape Kanin Nos, namely, to the lighthouse located there.

That's where this group went.

Kanyukov says that mostly tourists travel with guides - one of the locals.

But this group decided that they could manage on their own.

“They were driving along the tracks of those who had passed here before.

We watched tracks through the Internet, and we followed them.

But they didn’t take into account the weather: there was a lot of water and the current was strong - the ice drift passed, the flood began, ”he explained the reasons for the tragedy.

"An investigation is underway"

As follows from the message of the regional department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Gabrielyan and Merzlyakov disappeared on the Bolshaya Bugryanitsa River, 47 km from the village of Shoina.

“Two all-terrain vehicles of the Sherp company moved along the coast of the White Sea towards Cape Kanin Nos, passed the village of Shoina, crossing the Bugryanitsa River.

Both all-terrain vehicles rolled over, they were dragged into the sea, ”the Ministry of Emergency Situations said in a report.

During the search, a missing all-terrain vehicle was found.

Gabrielyan and Merzlyakov managed to get out of the water, but they died from hypothermia.

The press service of the regional Ministry of Emergency Situations refrained from commenting and asked to contact the Investigative Committee for information.

As RT was told in the press service of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Arkhangelsk Region and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, search activities were complicated by remoteness and lack of communication at the scene.

“Today, the bodies of the dead were delivered by helicopter to the city of Naryan-Mar, where identification and a forensic medical examination will be carried out to establish the cause of death of the dead.

On this fact, the investigating authorities of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Arkhangelsk region and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug are conducting a pre-investigation check.

A native of Mail.ru Group

Vladimir Gabrielyan in 1996-2000 worked as a system administrator and web developer in a number of industry companies.

From 2000 to 2004, he owned his own hosting business.

In parallel with this, in 2001 he began his career at Mail.ru Group as a Unix developer and in 2003 led the development and technical support of the company's mail service.

In 2005, Gabrielyan became Vice President and CTO of Mail.ru Group.

Since 2019, he has served as First Deputy General Director of VK.

Sergei Merzlyakov, who died, served as VK's procurement director.

Sherp is an amphibious all-terrain vehicle on ultra-low pressure tires.

It is based on a design developed in the late 2000s by inventor Alexei Garagashyan from St. Petersburg.

These all-terrain vehicles are used by the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Belarus, PJSC Gazprom, UN structures, vehicles are also delivered to the USA, Canada, India and a number of other countries.