According to him, about 900 people have reached the summit over the years, while between 95 and 98 have died.

«About 900 people have reached the summit over the years, and between 95 and 98 have died. Some of them disappeared — they simply fell into the abyss. Going to Pobeda Peak is like trying to cross the MKAD while cars are speeding at 120 kilometers per hour. Maybe it would be easier to use a pedestrian crossing? Ten years ago, a friend of mine died there — he suffered a blood clot. That is why I am surprised when people ask me: who will bring Nagovitsina down? Organizing such an expedition would put people’s lives at risk. Such an operation would be costly, but most importantly, someone could die,» he said.

According to Yakovenko, there is a list of bodies lying on Pobeda Peak at different elevations. One of them belongs to a Georgian climber who died in 1961.

It was previously reported that Kyrgyzstan had decided not to bring the body of Russian climber Natalia Nagovitsina down from Pobeda Peak. The Kyrgyz Ministry of Emergency Situations said the country lacks aircraft capable of operating at the required altitude, making the operation technically impossible.

Following the tragedy, access to Pobeda Peak was restricted to climbers. The Cabinet of Ministers introduced a permit system for ascents of Pobeda Peak, the highest point of the Tien Shan mountain range, at an elevation of more than 7,400 meters.

On August 12 last year, Russian climber Natalia Nagovitsina became stranded on Pobeda Peak. She broke her leg while on the route and was unable to descend. Hopes remained that she could be rescued. On August 23, the Kyrgyz Ministry of Emergency Situations announced that the rescue operation had been suspended due to poor weather conditions. Some of Nagovitsina’s fellow climbers continued attempts to reach the summit, but weather conditions prevented them from doing so. On September 2, Eduard Kubatov, president of the Mountaineering and Sport Climbing Federation, also announced that all search and rescue operations for Nagovitsina had been called off.

On September 2, 2025, a drone was flown to the climber’s tent and detected no signs of life. Nagovitsina had spent 21 days on the mountain slope.