# Suicide of Renata Kambolina

On November 23, 2015, 16-year-old Russian student Renata Kambolina died by suicide in Ussuriysk. 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". Kambolina's death has influenced and been exploited by Russian "death groups" that encourage teenagers to take their own lives.

## Background

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.
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 anime series of the same name, she mastered the art of playing percussion instruments.

## Death and traction online

On November 23, 2015, the teenager came to a train crossing at 10:30 local time at 9179 km of the Trans-Siberian Railway to a spot near the bridge over the Komarovka River, near the Sakhzavod station. Twenty-four hours before she took her own life, she posted selfies with the caption “ня.пока.” which is translated to, “nya.bye.” but the post didn't initially attract attention, only after her death when the page was discovered; her death was then discussed on internet forums and 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.

## Investigation

The Investigative Committee opened a criminal investigation into Renata's death. Renata's mother was charged under Article 110 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for 'driving her [Renata] to suicide'.
On May 21, 2016, Renata's case materials from Vladivostok were transferred for additional investigation to Moscow. According to the investigator, "possibly due to the public outcry, the capital requested the criminal case for verification." In late 2016, the Russian Investigative Committee closed the investigation into Renata's death, concluding that she had voluntarily died by suicide. According to the dead girl's mother, the investigation into leaked photos from the scene of the incident to the Internet was also closed. The perpetrators were not found. 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.
According to the statements of the victim's acquaintances, one of the reasons for the suicide could have been difficulties in her relationship with a young man.
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. She said that they did not inform parents about the absence of children's studies, and the teaching staff should have identified suicidal tendencies and reported them to the parents. The Far East Technical College did not fully agree with the claim in court, claiming that the evidenced 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, was meeting with 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. 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.

## Social popularity and imitation

After her death, Kambolina became a kind of icon for depressed teenagers on social networks. New cases of suicides were added to the group stories. In April 2016, Russian journalist Galina Mursalieva first wrote about “death groups” in an article published in the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta. The article described the “F57” groups on the Russian social network VKontakte, which it claimed incited 130 teenagers to take their own lives. Among other pages, Renata was subscribed to the group F57, a public with psychedelic content. After her death, the group was actively promoted on the internet as a cult, of which Renata was the first victim. Participants were offered to “learn the truth” through suicide.
The mother of the girl for the first time in an interview with “REN TV” explained why her daughter became popular online after her death. In her opinion, “the reason for the popularity is in this photo, which is exposed from the scene of the accident”
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.
One case of possible imitation of Renata occurred on October 17, 2019, when an 18-year-old student in Moscow (later identified as Gleb Korablyov) broadcast his suicide on his VKontakte page. He reportedly held a Saiga-12K carbine to his head, after which he shouted a phrase from Renata Kambolina's suicide post “nya.bye!” and pulled the trigger.

## In popular culture

On 27 October 2018, an episode of the programme «Bitva extrasensov» was filmed about the tragedy.