Just before setting out on the expedition to the Ural Mountains, Semyon Alekseevich Zolotaryov joined the nine-member group of young people. The thirty-seven-year-old introduced himself to the others as Alexander "Sasha" Zolotaryov, a mountain guide and instructor of the Kourov tourist base.
The young tourists, who were obliged to document their expedition with diaries (this was a requirement of the Sverdlovsk City Committee of Physical Culture and Sport), titled Zolotariev "guide."
To this day, the figure of Zolotariev is the most mysterious.
It was established with much probability that he was the only one in the group who did not have any training or experience in mountain hiking. Most likely, he also used false personal information. Zolotaryov's biography is full of contradictions and understatements. He is said to have been a former sergeant in the Soviet Army, taking part in fighting on the front lines of World War II, and some suggest that he may have been a German agent. Some sources corroborate this suggestion with information on a few German decorations found in his household.
To this day, it has not been determined why he joined the Dyatlov group and what his goal was. In addition, DNA tests conducted in 2018 determined that the genetic code of the thirty-seven-year-old buried in the grave of the victims does not belong to Zolotaryov.
