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Russian Mom Hears Daughter's Final Agony As She Is Eaten Alive By Bears

Moskalyova

First Posted: 08/18/11 01:19 PM ET Updated: 10/18/11 06:12 AM ET

A Russian mother listened helplessly on a cellphone to her teenage daughter crying for help earlier this week as she was eaten alive by bears.

The horrified mother of Olga Moskalyova, a 19-year-old psychologist in training, heard her daughter's desperate pleas for help after receiving a call from her daughter on a mobile phone.

Tatiana Tsyganenkov listened in horror to the screams as her daughter was attacked by a brown bear and its three cubs Wednesday near Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in eastern Siberia.

According to The Daily Mail, Moskalyova screamed, "Mum, the bear is eating me! Mum, it's such agony. Mum, help!"

Tsyganenkov said she initially thought her daughter was joking but quickly realized there was a desperate struggle going on and that her daughter was fighting for her life.

"I heard the real horror and pain in Olga's voice and the sounds of a bear growling and chewing. I could have died then and there from shock," Tsyganenkov said, according to NineMSN.

Moskalyova and her stepfather, Igor Tsyganenkov, were camping near a river in Russia when the mother bear attacked him. It reportedly broke his neck and smashed his skull. Having witnessed the attack, Moskalyova attempted to flee but was able to run only about 70 yards before the powerful brown bear grabbed her leg and forced her to the ground.

During the struggle, the girl's calls to her mother were cut off at least three times. The girl somehow managed to call her mother back each time. A helpless Tsyganenkov could only listen in horror to her daughter's screams for mercy.

In a second call to her mother, Moskalyova said, "Mum, the bears are back. She came back and brought her three babies. They're... eating me," The Daily Mail reported.

When the call was disconnected, a panic-stricken Tatiana Tsyganenkov contacted police in the nearby village of Termalniy and begged them to rush to the river where the attack was taking place.

Moskalyova spoke with her mother one last time roughly an hour after she made the first call.

"Mum, it's not hurting anymore. I don't feel the pain. Forgive me for everything. I love you so much," she said.

When authorities later arrived on the scene, they found Igor Tsyganenkov's body. The mother bear was still devouring his remains when they came upon the scene, Dubai Media reported. Moskalyova's badly mauled body was found not far away. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Half a dozen hunters were later dispatched to kill the mother bear and her three cubs. Authorities have not yet commented on whether the hunt succeeded.

"My daughter was such fun. She was so cheerful, friendly, and warm," Tatiana Tsyganenkov said, her words spoken in a voice diminished by grief. "She had graduated from music school, and just days before the bear attack she got her driving license."

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A Russian mother listened helplessly on a cellphone to her teenage daughter crying for help earlier this week as she was eaten alive by bears. The horrified mother of Olga Moskalyova, a 19-year-old...
A Russian mother listened helplessly on a cellphone to her teenage daughter crying for help earlier this week as she was eaten alive by bears. The horrified mother of Olga Moskalyova, a 19-year-old...
 
 
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10:33 PM on 08/31/2011
I can't believe the number of people taking this seriously. It might have started with a kernel of truth -- ie, a couple of people were attacked by bears -- but she called 3 times? "They're eating me"? Really? She was that coherent while being eaten alive?

And all of this is "According to The Daily Mail", which I'm sure is SUCH a reputable source. This is the sort of thing that happens all the time. Quote some other source, and then when someone proves it's false and complains, the whole thing can be retracted.

I don't believe anything until i do a web search and find the story reported by CNN or Washington Post or NY Times or any other somewhat reliable source. Still not guaranteed, of course, but better than 'The Daily Mail' or whatever other garbage they might quote here...
08:10 AM on 10/02/2011
Hey, it's in the HUFFPO, it's got to be true. They check the sources so carefully before they print, you know.
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03:14 PM on 08/31/2011
Wow. What a horrifying story. And, well, I'm glad she got to spend her last moments "with" her mother.
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04:36 PM on 08/30/2011
"Half a dozen hunters were later dispatched to kill the mother bear and her three cubs."
Why? It's a bad story but don't go in the woods, same as people who get killed by sharks.
Yet people like loughner get a trial and he may evade death penalty because of metal illness nonsense .he should have been killed on the spot. Also why is this under Crime??
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Alexandria Johnson
06:33 AM on 08/27/2011
From what i've looked up it looks like this was a story translated very badly from Russian, and someone decided to add details as well, it looks like the original story said a man and his daughter were killed by a bear, that they managed to call the rangers but when they arrived they were both found dead. This English version makes it seem fake and is horrible to the memory of the two people that died.
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Alexandria Johnson
06:22 AM on 08/27/2011
This all sounds super fake but i guess it has to be real. Certainly not the most disturbing story i've read, it's sad that it's actually one of the better ones i've read of, simply because this was an animal using their instincts, not a human deciding to murder someone, knowing the pain they will cause.
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aliosh
04:16 PM on 08/26/2011
Carry protection or bear repellent in the wilderness. Especially in bear infested areas. Practice safe storage of food, don't wear perfumes, and don't sleep with food or toiletries in your tent. Keep a bear bag with foods and toiletries at least 200 feet away from sleeping areas. Farther if the area permits it.
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SevenUPtheUNCOOLA
give me reproductive freedom or give me death
05:44 PM on 08/23/2011
"Moskalyova ... able to run only about 70 yards before the powerful brown bear grabbed her leg and forced her to the ground." Mum heard it grab her leg and force her to the ground?

"Tsyganenkov said she initially thought her daughter was joking but quickly realized there was a desperate struggle going on and that her daughter was fighting for her life." and "In a second call to her mother, Moskalyova said, "Mum, the bears are back. She came back and brought her three babies" - which time was it, when Mum realized it wasn't a joke?

"Tatiana Tsyganenkov contacted police in the nearby village of Termalniy" where is that exactly? google Termalniy and while youre at it check google earth.

"... The girl somehow managed to call her mother back each time." amazing. cell phone towers in remote areas of siberia. i've been in bear territory many times in the US without even roaming capabilities.

"The mother bear was still devouring his remains when they came upon the scene, Dubai Media reported." yet ....... "Half a dozen hunters were later dispatched ..." if the mother bear was busy eating, why didn't they shoot it then? why dispatch 12 hunters to shoot bears that were sitting RIGHT THERE when they got there?

mum's cuckoo. has good things to say about daughter, but not even a whimper about step dad who, i must assume, was her husband.

you've all been had.
06:13 PM on 08/25/2011
You better hope so, because if not, you sound like a real a** now!
09:35 AM on 08/23/2011
This is one of the saddest things I've read lately. My heart breaks at what the daughter and stepfather went through, and especially for the mother, who will live forever with the screams of her daughter's agony in her mind.
On another note, I've never understood why the media posts pictures of people without taking the red-eye away. In this day and age, there is no reason they can't fix that before posting. Either that or get a decent picture to begin with. She was such a beautiful girl.
03:36 AM on 08/23/2011
A horrid story indeed.
01:23 AM on 08/23/2011
Sad story and I can't imagine what her mom was going through.
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Asuigeneris1
We are the music makers & the dreamers of dreams.
10:07 PM on 08/22/2011
Wow...just wow.
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Johnny Mucous
05:08 PM on 08/22/2011
It's horrible what happened, but what do you expect it you run into a sow bear and it's 3 cubs.
People have to realize that the great outdoors can be a very dangerous place especially remote bear country. The fact that they dispatched hunters to kill the bear and it's 3 cubs is a dumb reactionary move; which is not going to accomplish anything. Instead they should be educating the ignoramuses that go camping without bear repellant or high-power firearms. Very few people are qualified to camp in bear territory without any means to ward off bears. These large Brown Bears are very strong and can easily outrun the best athletes , they are curious and always looking for food, add three young cubs to protect, inexperienced campers and you have a recipe for disaster.
02:04 PM on 08/22/2011
That was awful, what a horrible way to die. I really wish I didn't read this story.
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09:44 PM on 08/22/2011
I just told myself the same exact thing.
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phylliscooper1
still trying to figure it all out - except math
11:50 AM on 08/22/2011
This is tragic a story as I have ever read. I hope this mother gets the love and support she needs to help her cope with it.

My family and I visited Denali State Park years ago. It was a day trip. At the visitors center we learned that this majestic place was a perfect ecosystem without the presence of man. There were many warnings for campers about food storage and sleeping in clothing that was worn during cooking or eating. I came away from this day in awe with a full realization that in this setting, humans are not at the top of the food chain.
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07:54 PM on 08/21/2011
That is so devastating! :(

People always say bears don't prefer us, but I never buy it. Animals want to eat. That's all.