Cummings discovered a new lead in an article from the October 6, 1945 issue of the Russian-language magazine "Rosseya", which was similar to Gurley's Roskovitsky account. The "Rosseya" article, written by former Russian officer Alexander A. Koor, placed the tsar's expedition in December 1917, and described the Ark as measuring long, wide, and high. Koor's version ended with a rumor that the expedition's report was intercepted by Leon Trotsky, who had the courier shot. Cummings later contacted Koor, who said he had served in the Ararat region in 1915, and heard of the Ark expedition from fellow officers he met in 1921. This was enough to convince Cummings that Koor had not simply plagiarized the "New Eden" article. An amateur archaeologist, Koor also claimed to have discovered cuneiform inscriptions at Ararat describing the story of the Flood. Following his correspondence with Cummings, Koor would take an interest in promoting the discredited Book of Veles.