Bride-to-Be Reportedly Dragged From Tent by Bear as Fiancé Watched in Altai Camping Horror

A 29-year-old bride-to-be was mauled to death after a brown bear tore her tent at a Russian campsite, in an Altai bear attack that witnesses say her fiancé watched unfold.

Snezhana Korolyova was staying at the Istok holiday campsite in Artybash village, in Russia's Altai Republic, when the animal struck at around 1am on 19 August. She had become engaged only the day before.

It can be recalled that Korolyova, who worked as a court secretary in the Novosibirsk region and competed as a powerlifter, was camping beside the Biya River near Lake Teletskoye when the bear ripped through the fabric of the tent.

The Altai Republic prosecutor's office has since opened an investigation into her death, though full findings have not yet been released.

What Witnesses Say About the Altai Bear Attack

A local woman named Alina, who spoke about the incident afterwards, said the bear dragged Korolyova across the river as she screamed and would not release her.

'They were shooting in the air, but it wasn't frightened,' Alina said. 'It wouldn't give her up and dragged her across the river.'

She described the animal 'brazenly' beginning to bury its victim in the forest, a detail almost too grim to write down.

Fellow campers tried to scare the bear off, without success. Gamekeepers and police who arrived at the scene fired shots, but only into the air, reportedly because Russian rules restrict shooting within populated areas. Alina called the decision baffling.

'What infuriated people most was that, despite having the opportunity to kill a man-eating bear, the uniformed officers fired into the air, citing a ban on shooting at a target within a populated area,' she said. 'How does that make sense?'

Korolyova's remains were later recovered once the bear had been driven away from the site. Alina also noted that tourists in the area 'have no fear' despite knowing bears roam near the river's headwaters, which is presumably why the couple's tent ended up pitched so close to the water.

The horror was not isolated. A different local woman said her sister had a near miss with what may have been the same bear the previous night, after falling and crawling into a hut for safety.

'A man who happened to be driving past saved her,' she said. 'He shone his headlights at the bear, and it ran across the road. He even dented his car's wing, hitting it.'

Alert Declared After Deadly Altai Bear Attack

Authorities responded to the Altai bear attack by declaring a ten-day state of high alert across Artybash. A local order stated that during this period, 'tourists are prohibited from pitching tents in the forest and along the shore.'

Residents estimate around 20 bears are currently active near the village, though that figure has not been independently confirmed by wildlife officials.

A spokesperson for the Mayminsky District Society of Hunters and Fishermen said shrinking hunting seasons had allowed bear numbers to rise unchecked.

'The hunting season was shortened to 30 days,' the spokesperson said. 'Because of this, the bear population has begun to increase.

Hunters simply can't keep up with their licences. There's little hunting, the bears are reproducing, and the food supply is scarce, so they simply come out to hunt people when they're hungry.'

Korolyova's fiancé, who has not been publicly named, has been described by Alina as being 'in shock' after having proposed just a day earlier. Separately, however, Korolyova's father, Anton, told regional outlet KP-Novosibirsk that the fiancé fled the campsite without trying to help and later cut off all contact with the family, failing to attend her wake.

That account sits uneasily alongside witness descriptions of a devastated groom, and it remains unclear which version, if either, tells the fuller story.

The bear itself is still believed to be at large. No official confirmation has been given on whether it has been tracked, sedated or destroyed since the attack.