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Suicide of Renata Kambolina

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Renata Kambolina
Рената Камболина
Kambolina's last photo before her death, 2015
BornDecember 18, 1998
Ussuriysk, Russia
DiedNovember 23, 2015(2015-11-23) (aged 16)
Ussuriysk, Russia
Cause of death
Suicide
OccupationStudent
Known forBecoming a virtual idol of suicide
Influencing and being exploited by the Blue Whale Challenge

On November 23, 2015,[1] 16-year-old Russian student Renata Kambolina died by suicide in Ussuriysk.[2] Her death drew attention online, particularly her last post on VKontakte (where she went by the name Rina Palenkova), in which she wrote "nya.bye."[3][4] Her death was then discussed on internet forums and in various groups, and she became a virtual idol of suicide for depressed teenagers on social networks.

Kambolina's death has influenced and been exploited by the Blue Whale Challenge, involving Russian "death groups" that encourage teenagers to take their own lives, resulting in numerous suicides and attempted suicides inspired by Kambolina's, all of which quoted her last post, while others also re-created her last photo. It was alleged Kambolina herself had been either a Blue Whale victim or participant, although it was eventually confirmed that she was not a member of it, and the creators of the group only used her story.[5][6][7][8][9]

Background

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Renata Igorevna Kambolina (Russian: Рената Игоревна Камболина) was born on December 18, 1998, in Ussuriysk. In 2015, after receiving a certificate of basic general education from school No. 28, she entered the Far Eastern Technical College of Ussuriysk to specialize in computer networks.[10][11]

While studying at school and college, she attended the Ussuriysk "School of Rock Music", where, along with her friends who took the name Needless in honor of the manga and anime series of the same name, she mastered the art of playing percussion instruments.[10][11]

Death and traction online

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On November 23, 2015, Kambolina came to a train crossing at 10:30 local time[12] at 9179 km of the Trans-Siberian Railway to a spot near the bridge over the Komarovka River, near the Sakhzavod station.[13] She laid her neck across the rail as a train approached and decapitated her. Twenty-four hours before she took her own life, she had posted selfies with the caption "ня.пока." which roughly means "nya.bye."[14] but the post did not attract attention until her death when the page was discovered;[2][6][3] her death was then discussed on internet forums and in various groups. Online, anonymous people posted links to Renata's and her relatives' pages. Renata became a virtual idol of suicide. Teenagers from all over the country started writing messages to Renata's friends, offering money for pictures of the girl or some additional information. Locals went to the grave, filming videos from there.[15]

Investigation

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The Investigative Committee opened a criminal investigation into Renata's death.[16] Renata's mother was charged under Article 110 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for 'driving her to suicide'.

On May 21, 2016, Renata's case materials from Vladivostok were transferred for additional investigation to Moscow.[1] According to the investigator, "possibly due to the public outcry, the capital requested the criminal case for verification."[1][13] In late 2016, the Russian Investigative Committee closed the investigation into Renata's death, concluding that she had voluntarily died by suicide.[17][16] According to Renata's mother, the investigation into leaked photos from the scene of the incident to the Internet was also closed. No perpetrators were found.[17][5]

According to the statements of Renata's acquaintances, one of the reasons for the suicide could have been difficulties in her relationship with a young man.[18]

Renata's mother appealed to the court with a claim against the college where her daughter studied because in her opinion the college did not fulfill its duties properly. According to her, the college did not inform parents about the non-attendance and absence of children from classes, and the teaching staff should have identified suicidal tendencies and reported them to the parents.[19] The Far East Technical College did not fully agree with the claim in court, claiming that the evidence gathered as part of the criminal case showed that Renata was in a chronic suicidal state. They claimed that she was unconflicted, calm, and that they had noticed no suicidal tendencies while she was at school. The girl had conflicts with her mother, has been meeting a boy named Alexei and was also in a conflictual relationship with him, and that she did not talk to her mother or discuss the situation in the family to strangers. Children participate in various activities within the framework of study at the school, but Renata did not declare a desire to participate in various competitions, and was on sick leave from the first days of study.[19] The court also found that the plaintiff's arguments that employees of Russian Railways, particularly the railway track controller, were at fault for her daughter's death since they did not, in her opinion, attempt to save her daughter, were unfounded.[19]

Aftermath

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Becoming a virtual idol

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After her death, Kambolina became an icon for depressed teenagers on social networks, resulting in numerous suicides and attempted suicides inspired by Kambolina's, all of which quoted her last post, while others also re-created her last photo.[20] New cases of suicides[9][21] were added to the group stories.

Alleged ties to the Blue Whale Challenge

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Main article: Blue Whale Challenge

In April 2016, Russian journalist Galina Mursalieva first wrote about "death groups" in an article published in the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta.[22] The article described the self-named "F57" groups on the Russian social network VKontakte, which it claimed incited 130 teenagers to take their own lives.[23] Among others, Renata was subscribed to one of the so-called F57 groups; after Renata's death, the group began being actively promoted on the internet as a cult, one where participants were offered to "learn the truth" through suicide.[24] The piece was criticized for attempting to make a causal link where none existed, and none of the suicides were found to be a result of the group's activities.[25][26][27]

The creators of this group, allegedly belonging to a person nicknamed "Sea of Whales," were also administrators of other similar communities. They launched a "game", the Blue Whale Challenge, reportedly consisting of a series of tasks assigned to players by administrators over a 50-day period, which are initially innocuous and then introduce elements of self-harm, with the final challenge requiring the player to kill themselves.[28][29] A wave of moral panic swept Russia.[25]

Blue Whale Challenge first attracted news coverage in Novaya Gazeta that linked many unrelated child suicides to membership of group "F57" on the Russian-based VK social network.[30] Claims of suicides connected to the game have been reported worldwide, but none have been confirmed.[31][32][33] The game has been banned in some countries, including Egypt,[34] Kenya,[35] and Pakistan.[36] However, experts have said that since the game is not played on any specific website or app, it may be difficult or even impossible to fully ban it.[37][38][39] It was alleged Kambolina herself had been either a Blue Whale victim or participant, although it was eventually confirmed that she was not a member of it, and the creators of the group only used her story.[40]

Legislative changes

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The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation launched an investigation into the activities of suicidal communities on the social network VKontakte at the request of Elena Mizulina, deputy chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation.[41]

On June 7, 2017, Russia passed a law criminalizing the creation of online "death groups" provoking suicides and instituted a penalty of up to six years in prison.[17][42]

Girl's mother after the incident

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After her daughter's death, Kambolina's mother gave several interviews and appeared on television programs. In an interview with REN TV, the mother explained why her daughter became popular online after her death. In her opinion, the reason for her popularity was the photos taken at the scene of the incident and published on the Internet.[43]

After her daughter's death, Renata's mother started using social networks where she communicated with people who, like her, had lost children and were willing to help expose "deadly" groups. According to the mother, teenagers on the Internet created fake pages of her daughter, naming the pages after her daughter: "They make memes with her photo [and] mock her". Renata's mother stated that she wanted to talk with those on the internet who encouraged her daughter's death, and to have them stop exploiting her daughter's image for their purposes.[7]

Inspired incidents

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  • In September 2016, a 15-year-old girl committed suicide in a village in the Voronezh Oblast. Before her death, the girl said goodbye to her friends by using the same phrase used by Kambolina in her final and suicide-related status update on her page: "nya.bye".[44]
  • In 2017, a 16-year-old from the US state of Georgia committed suicide. When her older brother began searching through his sister's belongings for any clues which might shed some light on her actions, he noticed, along with some entries in her diary, a small sketch of a girl with the name "Renata Kambolina" written underneath it in Russian.[45][46]
  • On May 12, 2019, a young man committed suicide in Moldova. Afterward it was discovered that two days prior, on May 10, he had bought a bus ticket from Chisinau, and that on the following day he had sent his sister a photo from his location and had posted several farewell message online, one of which contained the phrase “nya.bye”.[47]
  • On October 17, 2019, an 18-year-old Moscow student broadcast his suicide live on his VKontakte page; he reportedly held a Saiga-12K shotgun to his head, shouted "nya.bye!", and pulled the trigger.[48]
  • On November 2, 2023, in Volgograd, two female friends jumped to their deaths from a nine-story building. Just prior to doing so, the girls had been livestreaming themselves sitting on the edge of the roof and taking selfies; one of the selfies was captioned with the words “nya.bye!”.[49]
  • On April 14, 2025, a 19-year-old man committed suicide in the city of Lesnoy by jumping out the window of a highrise. Before doing so, the young man had published a farewell post in which he mentioned the "nya.bye!" phrase from Kambolina's post, saying that "he had always wanted to pay tribute to [that particular] meme".[50]
[edit]

On 27 October 2018, an episode of the programme Bitva extrasensov was filmed about the incident.[51][52]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Дело о самоубийстве Рины "Ня.Пока" из приморья забрали в Москву" [Rina "Nya.Poka" suicide case taken from Primorye to Moscow]. Vesti: Primorye (in Russian). Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  2. ^ a b "В Уссурийске 17-летняя Рина Паленкова погибла под поездом" [In Ussuriysk, 17-year-old Rina Palenkova died under a train]. dp.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  3. ^ a b "Rina Palenkova". archive.ph (in Russian). 2015-11-26. Retrieved 2024-10-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  4. ^ "Wayback Machine". web.archive.org (in Russian). Retrieved 2024-10-15. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  5. ^ a b "Кумир смерти: В СК закрыли дело Рины Паленковой" [Idol of Death: The Investigative Committee Closed Rina Palenkova's Case]. РЕН ТВ (in Russian). 2017-06-05. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  6. ^ a b ""Ня". Икона суицида" ["Nya". Icon of suicide]. Life.ru (in Russian). 2016-05-26. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  7. ^ a b ""Из нее сделали богиню суицида": мать покончившей с собой девушки борется с "группами смерти"" ["They made her a goddess of suicide": Mother of girl who committed suicide fights "death groups"]. currenttime.tv (in Russian). 2017-05-25. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  8. ^ "Ня, пока... Грузовой поезд сбил 16-летнюю девушку под Уссурийском - PrimaMedia.ru". primamedia.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  9. ^ a b "Blue Whale: What is the truth behind an online 'suicide challenge'?". BBC News. 2019-01-13. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  10. ^ a b "rinapalenkova.ru" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2016-01-31.
  11. ^ a b ""Nya. Bye.": what the tragic story of Rina Palenkova from Ussuriysk taught society" (in Russian).
  12. ^ "В Уссурийске студентка Рина Паленкова сделала предсмертное селфи и бросилась под поезд (фото) - TOPNews.RU". topnews.ru (in Russian).
  13. ^ a b "Материалы уголовного дела о самоубийстве Рины Ня. Пока направлены в СК в Москву" [Materials of the criminal case on Rina Nya's suicide. For now sent to the Investigative Committee in Moscow]. PrimaMedia.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2024-10-16.
  14. ^ Бычкова, Анна; Раднаева, Эльвира (2018). "Доведение до самоубийства посредством использования интернет-технологий: социально-психологические, криминологические и уголовно-правовые аспекты". Всероссийский криминологический журнал. 12 (1): 101–115. doi:10.17150/2500-4255.2018.12(1).101-115.
  15. ^ "Рина-город. Как живет Уссурийск спустя полгода после смерти Рины Паленковой, из которой подростки сделали культ" [Rina-city. How Ussuriysk lives six months after the death of Rina Palenkova, who was turned into a cult by teenagers]. Новая газета (in Russian). 2016-07-04. Retrieved 2024-10-16.
  16. ^ a b "Следственный комитет закрыл дело Рины Паленковой". Известия (in Russian). 5 June 2017.
  17. ^ a b c "Следственный комитет закрыл дело Рины Паленковой из Уссурийска" [The Investigative Committee has closed the case of Rina Palenkova from Ussuriysk]. UssurMedia.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2024-10-16.
  18. ^ "В Уссурийске студентка Рина Паленкова сделала предсмертное селфи и бросилась под поезд (фото)" [In Ussuriysk, student Rina Palenkova took a selfie before her death and threw herself under a train (photo)]. TOPNews.RU (in Russian). Retrieved 2024-10-16.
  19. ^ a b c "Решение № 2-3438/2018 2-3438/2018~М-2941/2018 М-2941/2018 от 6 ноября 2018 г. по делу № 2-3438/2018" (in Russian).
  20. ^ "Образ девочки-самоубийцы из Уссурийска в соцсетях превращают в пособие по суициду" [The image of a suicidal girl from Ussuriysk is being turned into a suicide manual on social networks]. PrimaMedia.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2024-10-16.
  21. ^ "Russie. Quand le Net pousse nos jeunes au suicide" [Russia: When the Internet pushes our young people to suicide]. Courrier international (in French). 2017-04-07. Retrieved 2024-10-16.
  22. ^ "Группы смерти (18+). С детьми в социальных сетях работают системно и планомерно, шаг за шагом подталкивая к последней черте. Как родителям распознать надвигающуюся беду" [Death Groups (18+). They work with children in social networks systematically and methodically, step by step pushing them to the last line. How parents can recognize impending disaster]. Новая газета (in Russian). 2016-05-16. Retrieved 2024-10-16.
  23. ^ "Пять главных вопросов к материалу "Новой газеты" о подростковых суицидах" [Five main questions about Novaya Gazeta's article on teenage suicides]. Meduza (in Russian). 2016-05-17. Retrieved 2024-10-16.
  24. ^ "Why the Russian Suicide Game Went Global". Bloomberg.com. 2017-04-25. Retrieved 2024-10-16.
  25. ^ a b "FACT CHECK: 'Blue Whale' Game Responsible for Dozens of Suicides in Russia?". 27 February 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  26. ^ Cite error: The named reference cyber20217 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  27. ^ Cite error: The named reference uksafer2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  28. ^ "Blue Whale: Should you be worried about online pressure groups?". BBC News. 27 April 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-05-12.
  29. ^ "Teen 'Suicide Games' Send Shudders Through Russian-Speaking World". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Archived from the original on 2017-06-20. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
  30. ^ Mursaliyeva, Galina (2016-05-16). "Группы смерти (18+)" [Death Groups (18+)]. Novaya Gazeta (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2016-10-03. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  31. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  32. ^ Cite error: The named reference RFE was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  33. ^ Cite error: The named reference Mbrd was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  34. ^ "Egypt bans Blue Whale 'social media suicide game'".
  35. ^ "Kenya bans 'Blue Whale' game after teen commits suicide".
  36. ^ "Blue Whale and Momo challenge banned in Pakistan". 2 September 2018.
  37. ^ "Blue whale game: Here's why experts think it is not possible to ban the Blue Whale Challenge - the Economic Times". The Economic Times. 6 August 2017.
  38. ^ "Why banning Blue Whale game is not easy". 23 April 2018.
  39. ^ "Not possible to block Blue Whale game, Centre tells Supreme Court". The Times of India. 15 June 2023.
  40. ^ "Кто такой Филипп Лис и какое отношение он имеет к синим китам из «ВКонтакте». Репортаж «Медузы»". Meduza (in Russian). Retrieved 2025-08-02.
  41. ^ The Ministry of Internal Affairs is investigating the activities of suicidal communities “VKontakte”, РИА Новости (2016-03-29). "The Ministry of Internal Affairs is investigating the activities of suicidal communities "VKontakte"". ria.ru.
  42. ^ "Госдума ввела уголовную ответственность за создание "групп смерти"" [The State Duma has introduced criminal liability for the creation of "death groups"]. TACC (in Russian). Retrieved 2024-10-16.
  43. ^ "Мама Рины Паленковой впервые рассказала правду о смерти дочки и моде на суицид". РЕН ТВ (in Russian). 2016-05-22. Retrieved 2024-12-12.
  44. ^ "Найденная мертвой в Анне девочка перед смертью написала в соцсети: «Ня, пока» | 36on.ru". 36on.ru (in Russian). 2016-09-06. Retrieved 2025-08-02.
  45. ^ Hartung, Jaide Timm-Garcia, Kaylee (2017-07-17). "Family finds clues to teen's suicide in blue whale paintings". CNN. Retrieved 2025-08-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  46. ^ "Teen Who Died In 'Blue Whale Challenge' Left Suicide Drawings". International Business Times. 2017-07-17. Retrieved 2025-08-05.
  47. ^ "Оставил видеопрощание и пропал: в Молдове разыскивают молодого парня". bloknot-moldova.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2025-08-02.
  48. ^ ""Это не шок-контент, это реальность"" ["This is not shock content, this is reality"]. takiedela.live (in Russian). Retrieved 2024-10-16.
  49. ^ "В Волгограде после трагедии с девочками-подростками закрыли ход на кр". Высота 102.0 (in Russian). Retrieved 2025-08-02.
  50. ^ Лесной, Открытый (2025-04-14). "В Лесном 19-летний юноша выбросился из окна" (in Russian). Retrieved 2025-08-18.
  51. ^ "Битва экстрасенсов: Аида Грифаль - Ня пока, шокирующая история Рины Паленковой - видео на Вокруг.ТВ" (in Russian).
  52. ^ "Битва Экстрасенсов 27 октября 2018 - найти по голосу, почему погибла Рина Поленкова Ня пока" (in Russian).

Further reading

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