Drone footage likely locates bodies of missing Kyrgyzstan climbers
Sunday 16th August 2026 on 20:30 in
Lithuania
Human bodies have been spotted in drone footage during the search for three climbers missing in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan, LRT reported. One search participant, Aleksandr Smirnov, said they were very likely members of the group that included Lithuanian national Sergei Rubtsov.
Smirnov said the bodies were seen near belongings previously found at the site where a mass of snow and rocks had come down. Their identities can only be confirmed after rescuers reach the location, so no names or further details have been released. The families have been informed.
He said objects found on the slope were connected by a rope, indicating that the climbers had been travelling together as a group. Items belonging to all three men had been found lower down the slope in recent days.
“The group did not split up. They were together and remained together. None of them was left alone on the slope,” Smirnov wrote on social media.
According to Smirnov, the search team now has a clearer picture of what happened. A fresh fracture zone can be seen on the ridge at an altitude of about 5,400 metres. All the estimated fall trajectories, calculated from the belongings found, lead to that area, with a trail extending down to the location of Sunday’s discovery.
He said the exact sequence of events remained unknown and that the team would not speculate. Weather conditions were deteriorating again in the mountains, so the rescue camp was being dismantled. The next steps will include reviewing all recorded footage and preparing an operation to bring down the bodies.
The location is dangerous because rocks and snow are still moving. Rescuers will assess the risks carefully before sending people there, Smirnov said, stressing that their safety was essential.
He thanked the rescuers from Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Emergency Situations, drone operators, local residents who carried fuel into the mountains and 100 volunteers who reviewed the footage.
Rubtsov and two Belarusian citizens, Nikolai Sviridov and Maksim Polyansky, went up Kurumdy mountain in Kyrgyzstan on August 1. Contact with them was lost the following day.