59-year-old Irina Khramtsova, who went missing at the Kapshagai Reservoir, was found alive and conscious after 36 hours.
According to the Telegram channel "HALYQSTAN", the Ministry of Emergency Situations stated that its own employees rescued the woman, but volunteers claim the opposite. According to them, the Ministry initially considered Irina Khramtsova dead and refused to continue the search.
It is reported that the department's press service initially published the following message:
"Today, employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations at the Kapshagai Reservoir in the Almaty region rescued a woman born in 1966, who was swept far from the shore by gusts of wind while paddleboarding on 30 August 2025."
It was also reported that 106 people, 29 units of equipment, 5 watercraft, "as well as volunteer organisations and local residents" were involved in the search.
For their part, the volunteers themselves claim that the rescue was made possible solely through their efforts. Darina Shpachenko, who took part in the search, said that a stranger contacted her on social media, took his jet ski to the reservoir and found Irina.
"Irina Khramtsova is an experienced windsurfer. We know her vast experience, her character. We never doubted that we would find her. Even when very high-ranking officials from important services refused to help, saying she had drowned!" Darina said.
Another search participant, Natalya Pershina, sharply criticised the position of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
"Colleagues from the 112 service, do you have any conscience at all? Do you realise that with this kind of 'PR' you are digging a pit for your management and making the entire structure a laughing stock? Your regional bosses fobbed our team off, saying there was nobody left to search for, the woman had drowned!" she said indignantly.
The volunteers emphasised that they respect the work of rescuers, but in this particular case they did not see any Ministry employees at the scene.
After the criticism, the message from the 112 service was edited. The wording "employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations rescued the woman" was replaced with a more neutral one – "today, a woman was rescued at the Kapshagai Reservoir in the Almaty region".