Source: https://twitter.com/molevitckiy
Это я съел Сидякина!!! pic.twitter.com/PgUzNLkLvx
— Инопланетный Бандера (@molevitckiy) January 14, 2015"It was me who ate Sidiakin"
Ok, lets rewind a bit. Two members of the United Russia party and deputies in the State Duma, Alexander Sidiakin and Oleg Savchenko, set off on an expedition to Antarctica on January 2nd to conquer Mount Vinson (which, by the way, cost them $45,000 a pop but we mustn’t digress) and firmly plant the Russian flag on its peak. On Wednesday, they failed to make any sort of contact for more than 24 hours, which prompted fears, speculations and, of course, numerous jokes regarding their fate and whereabouts.
Здравствуйте.Меня зовут Павел, пресс-секретарь Александра Геннадьевича. Он и депутат Савченко не вышли на связь из Антарктиды. Боюсь,беда(((
— Александр Сидякин (@A_Sidyakin) January 14, 2015The first mention was made on Twitter around 11am Moscow time by Sidiakin’s press secretary: “Hello, my name is Pavel, Alexander Gennadievich’s press secretary. He and deputy Savchenko have not made contact from Antartica. I fear the worst.”
Some time later, Pavel went out and found a dose of optimism somewhere.
П.С.: Отсутствие связи не означает их пропажу. Сидякин и Савченко на горе, и в ближайшие дни должны объявиться. Поиски преждевременны. Ждем.
— Александр Сидякин (@A_Sidyakin) January 14, 2015“P.S.: The lack of contact does not mean they’ve gone missing. Sidyakin and Savchenko are on the mountain and should get in touch in the coming days. A search mission is premature. We’ll be patient”.
Russian bloggers, however, don’t need to go very far to find a very decent dose of humor. Not long after Pavel’s first tweet we were in for some real treats.
помогите Даше найти Сидякина pic.twitter.com/NBkLz4JfD2
— Чистый Постмодерн (@chistpost) January 14, 2015“Help Dasha [Russian version of Dora] find Sidiakin”
Тест на внимательность "Найди депутата Сидякина" pic.twitter.com/hbbOpOd7Ar
— Дядюшка Шу (@Shulz) January 14, 2015“Attentiveness test – find deputy Sidiakin”
As with all mysterious disappearances, conspiracy theories quickly started to emerge. Many of them singled out those evil penguins as the main suspects.
Установлена причина, по которой Сидякин перестал выходить на связь pic.twitter.com/okyh4P1kdZ
— Bob Farber (@Bobchensk) January 14, 2015“We’ve established the reason for Sidiakin’s communication failure”
Пингвины из группировки Боко Харам похитили депутата Сидякина в Антарктиде
— Федерализация Сибири (@Fenring) January 14, 2015“Penguins from Boko Haram have kidnapped Sidiakin in Antarctica”
Последняя фотография Сидякина. pic.twitter.com/X8AIUed85P
— Прокурор Крыма (@ProkyrorCrimea) January 14, 2015“Sidyakin’s last photo”
Other inhabitants’ involvement was also being investigated.
Следственный комитет России @Sledcom_Russia провел первые задержания по делу пропавшего депутата Сидякина @A_Sidyakinpic.twitter.com/vwdgKfPjXK
— Коробков-Землянский (@korobkov) January 14, 2015“The Investigative Committee of Russia has made the first arrests in connection to the disappearance of deputy Sidiakin”
“Deputy Sidiakin has disappeared in Antarctica. Evidently, they were kidnapped by American seals [we have a strong suspicion that the author of this post didn’t consider just how perfect this sounds translated into English] and penguin sympathizers”
В Антарктиде пропали депутаты Сидякин и Савченко. Очевидно, их похитили американские морские котики и сочувствующие Штатам пингвины!
— Мuнистерство Любви (@FakeMORF) January 14, 2015
Whether or not it was in good taste, one user likened this “tragedy” to another very recent one:
http://t.co/QQNsMI95vipic.twitter.com/blPgdgdbQA
— Sergey Elkin (@Sergey_Elkin) January 14, 2015
This Internet user hinted at his political inclinations by suggesting that Zhirinovksiy, Zheleznyak, Mizulina and Ziuganov should all follow Sidiakin’s suite:
Жириновский,Железняк,Мизулина,Зюганов - должны ....повторить подвиг Сидякина!
— Саша_Северный (@Aleks_SPb) January 14, 2015
For another user this was a kind of po-TAY-to, po-TAH-to situation:
Вместо Сидякина и Савченко вернутся два пингвина, но разницы никто не заметит
— Дмитрий Таралов (@dmitriy_taralov) January 14, 2015“Two penguins will return from Antarctica instead of Sidiakin and Savchenko and no one will notice the difference”.
But not everyone was ready to fall for what might be an intricate PR stunt.
Впрочем, зная личность депутата Сидякина, уверен, что эту историю он сам и придумал
— Георгий Албуров (@alburov) January 14, 2015“Knowing Sidiakin, I am more than sure that he himself thought up this story”
А чего все так возбудились на "пропажу" сидякина? Уверен, что это лишь пиар-акция для привлечения внимания к его персоне.
— Michael Che... (@mag_mike) January 14, 2015“Why’s everyone so worked up about Sidiakin’ ‘disappearance’? I’m sure it’s just a PR stunt to draw attention to him”
Others chose to be pragmatic and not alarmist:
А никому в голову не приходило, что у Сидякина в Антарктиде телефон сел (отключен, связи нет)?
— Ivan Safronov (24+) (@isafronov) January 14, 2015“Has anyone considered that maybe Sidiakin’s phone ran out of battery or is out of coverage?”
Ok, we probably had you in suspense for long enough. Indeed, the story has a happy ending:
П.С.: Хорошие новости. Турфирма смогла установить связь с Сидякиным и Савченко. Они действуют по погодным условиям. Восхождение продолжается
— Александр Сидякин (@A_Sidyakin) January 14, 2015“P.S.: Good news. The tour agency managed to make contact with Sidiakin and Savchenko. They’re managing according to weather conditions. The climb continues”
PHEW!
Based on materials from Lenta.ru.
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