According to the headquarters, flights have also been suspended, the camp has been dismantled, and equipment has been brought down. The headquarters is now working out the next stage and planning an operation to retrieve the bodies.

The Ministry of Emergency Situations of Kyrgyzstan said that on August 16, a pair of mountaineering boots was found during the search. Volunteers said the crampon-equipped boots are the clearest detail visible in the footage.

However, the footage does not show any people, as almost everything is covered by snow and rocks.

«We can see crampon-equipped boots, pieces of equipment and clothing, and outlines that we interpret as bodies. This can only be confirmed after the descent, when identification will also become possible. No one has yet reached this location from the ground. Therefore, no one can confirm the discovery at this stage, neither us nor any official body. There is no dispute and there are no two versions. There is simply caution in our wording, and we believe it is essential. We are not publishing the footage or sharing it with anyone. We do not want these distressing images to circulate online. The families have seen them, and that is enough,»

the headquarters said.

During the search, drones and a helicopter produced 141 video recordings totaling 107 gigabytes and 7 hours and 17 minutes of footage. There were also 368 photographs, including zoomed-in images taken with a laser rangefinder.

More than 100 volunteers from different countries reviewed the footage. Many had never been in the mountains and learned to analyze mountain slopes from scratch, working in the evenings after their regular jobs. A total of 89 people sent the headquarters 1,146 frames showing possible findings.

«All of this would have been impossible without those who worked below and at the camp. Rescuers from the Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Emergency Situations and the Chon-Alai unit kept the camp running at an altitude of 4,000 meters and handled logistics over the final 12 kilometers from the road, including transporting cargo, fuel and equipment. Local residents also helped, volunteering to carry loads uphill. We thank them, as well as the Mountaineering Federations of Kyrgyzstan and Belarus, the Foreign Ministries of Belarus and Lithuania, and EVERNEST operators. This operation depended on everyone,» the headquarters said.

Volunteers added that the belongings of all three missing mountaineers have been found. It has been established that the group was moving as a roped team and did not split up. The point where the group fell has been identified on a ridge at an altitude of approximately 5,400 meters.

Field operations have ended, but the overall work has not. The headquarters remains operational, and the footage review continues. According to preliminary plans, the next stage of the operation is expected to take place in late August or September.

Belarusian citizens Maxim Polyansky, 43, and Nikolai Sviridov, 60, along with Sergei Rubtsov, 37, from Lithuania, successfully summited Kurumdy Peak on August 2. The group was scheduled to begin descending to the base camp on August 4, but failed to make contact at the appointed time. The Ministry of Emergency Situations and volunteers launched a search operation. However, adverse weather conditions have made the search more difficult, while valuable time is being lost. Heavy snowfall and poor visibility have been reported in the search area.

Kurumdy Peak is located east of Lenin Peak. It is a mountain summit in the Chon-Alai Range on the border of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and China. The mountain massif is characterized by narrow ridges, sharp rocky peaks and glaciers descending along steep slopes.

Before 2001, expeditions from several countries made repeated attempts to climb the peak but were unsuccessful. The first confirmed ascent was made by a Kyrgyz team led by Alexander Gubaev on October 12, 2001. The route followed the northern ridge at an altitude of 6,096 meters.

Climbing Kurumdy Peak is considered an extremely difficult mountaineering route.