Let us remind you that the landing craft was undergoing repairs in the port of Feodosia, and on that day there was a general team meeting. While the sailors were on board, a missile hit the Novocherkassk. According to our data, 33 sailors were listed as missing after this (the entire command staff remained alive), including at least 4 conscripts.
Igor Meshcheryakov’s mother, Natalya, heads the investigative department in her hometown; his father is a former employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Perhaps, due to the fact that the parents showed due initiative, the senior sailor was one of the first to be “identified”. He, like many others, was not on any list, and his relatives were informed that he was missing.
“I don’t think it’s necessary to be in groups where there is no truth. Neither the command nor the hotline has any information. Our people walked around all the hospitals with photographs and signs of our boy, but in vain. I gave DNA samples in Sevastopol, which is also useless, but everything changed when I arrived in Rostov,” Natalya, the mother of the deceased sailor, told the Cheka-OGPU.
According to the woman, the main center where DNA is processed is in Rostov, where she once again donated blood and saliva. Two days later, on January 6, she was informed that her son’s body had been found. Where, when and generally how Igor Meshcheryakov died, the parents were never told, citing the fact that this was classified information. Even after the mother was informed that her son’s remains were being transported, she decided, just in case, to call a special hotline, where she was still told in an even voice, “wait, your son is missing.” For reference, until the sailors are declared dead, their families are paid only monetary allowances and sub-hire.
“ВЧК ОГПУ”
