A terrible tragedy occurred in Sochi during the Russian chess championship, which was attended by athletes from 11 to 21 years old.

The competitions that were held in Loo had to be stopped ahead of schedule due to the death of 12-year-old Polina Kunikova from Saratov.

According to the FSR on the official website, the tournament cannot be resumed until the end of the investigation and the clarification of the causes of the incident.

“The Russian Chess Federation expresses its deepest condolences to Polina's family and all participants in the competition.

The FSR is cooperating with law enforcement agencies and looks forward to a thorough and objective investigation of what happened,” the official statement says.

Later, the prosecutor's office of the Lazarevsky district reported the details of the tragedy.

In her free time, on April 26, the girl went out for a walk and saw the puppies through the fence of the site with the gate closed with a padlock.

She wanted to feed them, she climbed over the fence.

An adult shepherd dog attacked the chess player and inflicted injuries incompatible with life.

Polina was found by passers-by.

An ambulance was called to the scene, but the doctors only pronounced the victim dead. 

As the chairman of the Saratov Regional Chess Academy Artur Muromtsev noted, the abandoned building where the dogs lived was far from the venue of the championship. 

“As I understand it, Polina went to the eighth building.

It is either abandoned or unfinished.

That is, in order to get there, it was necessary to leave the territory where the participants of the tournament lived.

Dogs lived there.

As far as I know, she went there alone, although she lived in a hotel with the guys, and her mother was with her, ”the specialist said in an interview with RT.

According to the prosecutor's office of the Lazarevsky district, the tragedy occurred on a site near Luchezarnaya Street, which is fenced along the perimeter on three sides.

There, a 50-year-old local resident kept sheep dogs.

At the same time, the territory was not equipped with special enclosures, and the animals moved freely, remaining unattended.  

“The necessary investigative actions are being taken to establish the circumstances of the incident, including the safety of keeping animals by a man,” the department’s Telegram channel says.

Investigative bodies of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Krasnodar Territory

initiated a criminal case under Part 1 of Art.

109 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Causing death by negligence".

At the same time, if it turns out that the dogs were homeless, and the man only looked after them, then the responsibility may also lie with the local authorities.

The problem exists in the region not the first year.

According to one of the tourists who lived in AquaLoo in 2019, even the territory of the complex was constantly roamed by animals fed by local residents.

As the children's ombudsman for the Saratov region Tatyana Zagorodnyaya said, the girl did not see these puppies for the first time, she went to them several times before the tragedy and decided that she had made friends with the kids.

According to the father of the deceased, the daughter often looked after homeless animals and knew how to handle them.

At home, the family kept a rat, two dogs and two cats.

Polina was everyone's favorite, successfully played chess and played for the Engels Central Sports School.

“We don’t know what to do now, we didn’t really realize it all,” the Moscow Region 360 quoted his father as saying.

The coach of the Saratov Chess Federation Pavel Lobach spoke very warmly about Polina.

He noted that before the pandemic, she became the champion of the region.

“Polina was preparing for the tournament on the Internet with one of our coaches.

I am not her coach, I know the girl, as any school director knows and remembers the children who study at school, and also because there are few girls in our chess.

Even before the pandemic, four years ago, Polina became the champion of the region, then the coronavirus made its own adjustments - we were able to hold only one tournament during this time, and Polina did not win there.

She went to Sochi with her mother, ”the specialist said in an interview with RT.

According to the executive director of the Russian Chess Federation Mark Glukhovsky, the organization will help the family of the deceased girl and will cover the costs associated with the funeral of the child.

The head of FIDE Arkady Dvorkovich also expressed his condolences to the relatives and friends of the athlete.

Russian State Duma deputy Dmitry Svishchev, in turn, promised to take the case under his personal control. 

“I’m sorry, this is unlikely to help.

I express my sincere condolences to the families of the deceased girl.

We will carefully monitor that all the perpetrators of the incident are punished, ”the official told Sport Express.