08 June 2024 , 19:37
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Two children have been hailed as 'miracles' after surviving four nights in the Russian wilderness alone.
The youngsters, aged 10 and 12, were found alive in the forest after their pet beagle reportedly fended off wolves. Brother and sister Vika and Grisha Krepp were discovered "exhausted" and clinging to dogs, Rocky and Ryzhiy (Ginger) for warmth after their ordeal.
The two went missing on Tuesday after heading out on a fishing trip with their grandfather on the Lipka River, in the Sverdlovsk region of Russia. Rescuers who found the terrified siblings were told how “wolves approached them in the forest, but their two young beagle dogs, who were with the children, scared off the predators”.
The pair were found freezing and insect-bitten, as well as hungry and dehydrated after having gone for hours without a proper meal. They told rescuers who scoured the forest for them how they ate quails eggs to survive.
This was the moment siblings Vika, 10, and Grisha, 12, were found in the Russian wilderness after surviving four nights in the cold (social media/e2w)The rescuer who found them said they were “scared…and cold” but “cheerful” that they had been located after spending four nights in the 9C cold. The children were given food and water before being handed over to paramedics, as the rescuers cared for the dogs who saved their lives.
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Vika and Grisha were taken to hospital where they were reunited with their mother Alfiya as they underwent health checks. She was seen hugging the children in the hospital ward.
She told Grisha: “I wasn’t worried. I believed in you! I knew you were fine. I was confident in you, in Rocky, in Ryzhiy. Son, I believed you.”
The siblings managed to survive by scavenging quail eggs and cuddling up to their pet beagles to keep warm (112/e2w)“Four of us were riding on two ATVs when they were discovered,” said rescuer Igor Grekov. "They didn’t panic. I was actually surprised. We stopped and shouted every 200 metres. They heard us, but could not shout back, since their voices were already strained.”
They were eventually found four and a half miles from the village of Burmakina, where they had gone missing near the family’s remote country cottage used in summer. Their grandfather appeared four days ago after the fishing expedition but had recently had a stroke and was unable to explain clearly what had happened, and how the children had got separated from him.
But rescuers think Vika and Grisha walked tens of miles as they sought to find their way out of the forest. Teams of dozens of rescuers covered more than 800 miles searching for them.
There was a major scare yesterday when a bear was found that appeared to be guarding its prey and refusing to move. There was such concern for the children that a murder case was officially opened and the Russian military was deployed.
A huge search operation involving multiple teams was sent out to find the two youngsters (MChS Russia/e2w)It was an aerial thermal imager that detected the suspected bear. One theory is that returning from fishing, the children had run ahead of their grandfather to get to the village to buy drinks, but had taken the wrong turn.
“They told their grandfather ‘don’t rush, you will catch up with us,’ but without realising it, they were going in a different direction,” she said their mother. She had said as the search went on that she “blamed herself” for leaving the children with their grandfather while she was working in the city.
A villager said she knew the “city children” from holidays. “They are like family to all of us,” she said. The children are very friendly, polite, and athletic. I've never seen them sad. They are in good physical shape, but they are still city children, so they could easily get lost in the forest.”
The “hero” rescuer who found the children said: “They were on the track, in the forest.” The children were not dressed for the harsh conditions in the forest.
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Vika was dressed in a black top, grey sports trousers, and spring boots, according to search organisation Liza Alert. Her brother wore a black hoodie, black trousers and black sneakers.