The Zvezda TV channel made a documentary film Matua Island about the research expedition of the Russian Geographical Society and the Russian Ministry of Defense. Experts went to the island back in 2016 and for many months collected materials about its natural, historical and cultural heritage. Why exactly Matua was interested in the Russian Geographical Society and what secrets the island keeps - in the material "360".
From no man's island to mothballed military base
Matua Island is included in the middle group of the Great Kuril Ridge and belongs to Sakhalin region. However, this was not always the case. The original population of Matua is considered to be the Ainu, the most ancient people of the Japanese islands. In his language, the island is called "hell mouth".
For a long time, Matua existed on its own, and only in the 17th century did the first expeditions set off for the Kuriles. The Japanese, Russians and Dutch visited there and even declared the land the property of their East India Company.
By 1736, the Ainu converted to Orthodoxy and became Russian subjects, paying the inhabitants of Kamchatka yasak - a tax in kind in the form of furs, livestock and other items. Russian Cossacks regularly visited the island, and the first scientific expedition arrived at Matua in 1813. The population of the island has always been small: in 1831, only 15 inhabitants were counted on Matua, although at that time the census took into account only adult men. In 1855 Russian empire officially received the right to the island, but 20 years later Matua was under the rule of Japan - that was the price for Sakhalin.
Shortly before World War II, the island became the main stronghold of the Kuril chain. A fort appeared on Matua with anti-tank ditches, underground tunnels and trenches. An underground residence was created for the officers in the hill. After the outbreak of the war, Nazi Germany supplied fuel to Matua. The island became one of Japan's key naval bases. In August 1945, a garrison of 7.5 thousand people capitulated without firing a shot. Matua passed to the Soviet Union.
Until 1991, there was a military unit on the island. During this time, Matua was interested not only in historians, but also in politicians. US President Harry Truman, immediately after the end of World War II, offered Joseph Stalin to cede the island for a US naval base. Then the leader of the USSR either jokingly or seriously agreed to exchange Matua for one of the Aleutian Islands. Question closed.
The Russian border outpost was on Matua until 2000. Then the entire naval infrastructure of the island was mothballed, and the inhabitants left it. Now Matua is uninhabited. A small island with a length of 11 kilometers and a width of just over six still holds many secrets. Members of the Russian Geographical Society and employees set off to open them. Russian ministry defense.
Secrets of Matua
In September last year, the commander of the Pacific Fleet, Admiral Sergei Avakyants, told reporters about the results of the first expedition to Matua. It started in April and lasted almost six months. The expedition was attended by Defense Minister and President of the Russian Geographical Society Sergei Shoigu.
Research on Matua took place for the first time since 1813. According to Avakyants, many underground structures were discovered on the island. Some of them definitely belonged to the fort, but the purpose of the rest has not yet been clarified.
Initially, there was an assumption that these were warehouses, but everything was taken out of them. And if these were warehouses, then any material traces would remain. Moreover, it was found that a high-voltage cable was suitable for these premises, and the power supply system made it possible to supply up to 3 thousand volts there. Naturally, this is an excess voltage for storage facilities. But it is obvious that some work was carried out in these structures.
Sergei Avakyants.
Among the unusual finds is a high-voltage cable on the slope of the Sarychev volcano. Nearby are the remains old road, which leads to the mouth of the volcano. At the same time, members of the expedition noticed the entrances to underground structures from a helicopter. What exactly is in the thickness of the volcano is still unknown. The experts were also occupied with another question: why the garrison surrendered without a fight in August 1945. This behavior is not typical for Japanese soldiers, which indicates a well-thought-out plan. “We concluded that the garrison had fulfilled its main task - to remove all traces and all facts that could lead to the disclosure of the true nature of activities on this island,” the admiral explained.
Photo: RIA Novosti / Roman Denisov
Last year, the expedition members decided to study the collected materials, and a few months later return to Matua to uncover other secrets of the island. What else will surprise the Russians with a small piece of land that has gone from no man's land to a secret Japanese fort, time will tell.
The second joint expedition of the Ministry of Defense and the Russian Geographical Society to the island of Matua has ended. Its participants - historians, archaeologists, ecologists and hydrographers - spoke at the next meeting of the Russian Geographical Society about their amazing finds discovered on this small but very mysterious island Kuril ridge, reports corr. IA SakhalinMedia.
Members of the second joint expedition of military and scientists to kuril island Matua summed up their work. At the next meeting of the Sakhalin branch of the Russian Geographical Society, they made presentations in which they told what new secrets the island had revealed to them and what findings gave rise to new questions.
Opened the meeting Chairman of the Russian Geographical Society Sergey Ponomarev. He noted that cooperation with the Pacific Fleet provided new opportunities for studying the Kuril Islands.
“The most expensive part of the expedition is transportation to the Kuril Islands. But the fact that Sergei Shoigu headed the Russian Geographical Society, allowed organizing such joint projects with the Ministry of Defense. The military is also sent to Matua with their research goals. And they take our scientists with them. We use this cooperation to our advantage. Our research concerns history, archeology, ecology. Such versatility helps the complex study of the islands, both on land and in the sea,” Ponomarev said.
Meeting with members of the expedition to Matua. Photo: IA SakhalinMedia
Meeting with members of the expedition to Matua. Photo: IA SakhalinMedia
Meeting with members of the expedition to Matua. Photo: IA SakhalinMedia
Meeting with members of the expedition to Matua. Photo: IA SakhalinMedia
Meeting with members of the expedition to Matua. Photo: IA SakhalinMedia
He recalled that Matua is a very interesting island from the point of view of local historians. It is located in the middle of the Kuril ridge and was previously used by the Japanese as a transit point on the route from north to south, as well as a powerful naval base and airfield.
Local historian Igor Samarin during this expedition he continued his last year's work. His main task was to restore the scheme of Japanese long-term firing structures on the island. Last year, such a map was drawn up, but, as it turned out, the island is fraught with many more discoveries.
“This year, quite by accident, our military colleagues discovered a ceramic pipe coming out of the ground. They lowered an impromptu video camera into it - a smartphone with a flashlight, found a room there. At a depth of three meters, there was a concrete structure adjacent to an artillery rangefinder post. It turned out that there was a fire control command post located underground. From there, with the help of electronics, commands were transmitted to the guns, ”said Igor Samarin.
Also one of the tasks of this year was the study of the Japanese command post on one of the heights of the island. Samarin's group dug up this concrete structure and got inside.
But the most interesting discoveries scientists have done by studying small, not always obvious details. So, next to one of the soldiers' barracks, we found a lampshade from a lamp. Igor Samarin explains: according to the testimony of the Japanese military themselves of those years, naval sailors lived better than infantry and they were the only ones who had electricity. So the found lampshade reinforced the belief that it was the sailors who lived in the barracks on the island.
“Many ordinary things were revelation. Here we found a beer bottle, the most common, but on the bottom - the date of manufacture “18 S 8”. For knowing person it's simple - August 16, according to the European calendar - 1941. 25 such bottles were found on the island. From them it was possible to determine the time when the bottles were delivered to the island. It turned out that the first supply of provisions began in 1938 and ended in 1943. And in 1944, the blockade of the island of Matua by American submarines began,” Samarin continued his report.
Scientists did not disregard the Japanese kitchen heaps near each dugout. Bird bones were found among the waste. As it turned out, the Japanese actively used local puffins for food. They also ate mice - voles. There was even a barter in kind - one mouse was worth two cigarettes. The skins of rodents were transported to the metropolis for the manufacture of gloves from them.
In total, historians brought 86 objects of Japanese and Soviet period- from baby booties and dishes to fuel barrels and homemade stoves.
Also, scientists managed to uncover another mystery that the Matua Islands have kept since the Second World War. For more than 70 years, the fate of the American submarine Herring, which sank two Japanese ships off Matua, was unknown and conflicting information was preserved about it. Hydrographers led by the captain of a large hydrographic boat, Igor Tikhonov, combed the entire water area of Dvoynaya Bay using a multibeam echo sounder. And an object very similar to a submarine was discovered near Cape Yurlov at a depth of 110 meters. What to do next with this discovery, the military will determine.
As part of the expedition, the researchers also studied a more ancient period in the history of the island. Yes, the group archaeologist Olga Shubina discovered on the island more than a hundred pits from the ancient dwellings of the first inhabitants of the island. Most likely they belonged to the ancient Ainu, who lived here 2.5 - 3 thousand years ago. Scientists conducted excavations at the sites of finds and marked the boundaries of archaeological sites.
At the end of the meeting, the chairman of the Sakhalin Russian Geographical Society, Sergey Ponomarev, announced that scientists had created a working group dealing with the unification geographical names on the island of Matua.
“Many objects of Matua still bear Japanese names or “folk” Soviet ones. The group is preparing a proposal for the official name of about three dozen bays, capes and heights, so that when drawing up maps and diagrams, we can use the same designations and understand each other,” Ponomarev said.
Uncover all the secrets of the Kuril island of Matua
One of the priority projects of the Russian Geographical Society today is an expedition to the island of Matua. Despite several months of painstaking work on its study, there are still many mysteries. Tunnels and underground structures have not been fully studied. It remains to be seen where the dishes of the Japanese imperial family and empty fuel barrels came from on Matua, and much more remains to be done.
The other day, TASS reported that several teams of scientists from Vladivostok, Moscow, Kamchatka, and Sakhalin Island will work as part of an expedition to Matua, which will take place from June to September.
At present, the Pacific Fleet Headquarters has completed the development of a detailed survey plan for the Kuril Islands, determined the personnel and the necessary equipment for survey work as part of the expedition to Matua Island in 2017. This year the composition of the expedition will expand significantly. Several teams of hydrogeologists, volcanologists, hydrobiologists, landscape scientists, soil scientists, submariners, search engines and archaeologists from Vladivostok, Moscow, Kamchatka and Sakhalin will work on the island of Matua at once,” said the head of the information support department of the press service of the Eastern Military District (VVO) for the Pacific Navy (Pacific Fleet) Captain 2nd Rank Vladimir Matveev.
According to him, Pacific Fleet psychologists are now completing the professional psychological selection of military personnel participating in the future expedition, who are undergoing special tests and programs to establish the degree of stress tolerance and the level of working capacity in extreme conditions, psychological compatibility of future members of the expedition and assess the moral and business qualities of military personnel.
Matua is an island of the middle group of the Great Ridge of the Kuril Islands. The length is about 11 km, the width is 6.4 km. During the Second World War, one of the largest naval bases in Japan was located on it. In 1945, the island was ceded to the USSR, and the Japanese base was turned into a Soviet one. The island has preserved many fortifications, mines, grottoes, two runways that are warmed up thermal springs, so they can be used all year round. In 2000, the base was mothballed and the island of Matua officially became uninhabited.
In 2016, the first joint research expedition of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and the Russian Geographical Society to Matua took place, in which the military personnel of the Eastern Military District and the Pacific Fleet took part. In total, more than 200 people were involved in the expedition. The Ministry of Defense was interested in the island as a possible base for the forces of the Pacific Fleet. Then, an extensive network of tunnels was discovered on Matua, as well as the sunken Japanese light fighter Mitsubishi Zero, released in 1942.
The second research expedition to Matua will take place from June to September 2017, it is planned to collect materials for the preparation of an atlas-key to the marine life of the Matua neighboring islands. Also, the researchers will create a reconstruction of the activity of the Sarychev Peak volcano in the late Pleistocene, including historical eruptions, and map the island. In addition, it is planned to conduct a survey of marine hydrobiont species, compare the biota of adjacent water areas to assess the state of biodiversity and identify possible ways of migration and interpenetration of elements of flora and fauna in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean.
In September last year, tvzvezda.ru correspondent Alexander Stepanov visited Matua. Here are excerpts from his report "The Mystery of Matua Island: When the Japanese Fortress Becomes a Russian Base".
From a bird's eye view, Matua Island seems like a small spot - 11 kilometers long and six and a half wide, two thirds of the island's area is occupied by the active VOLCANO - Sarychev Peak. The island is completely unsuitable for life. severe climatic conditions: constant winds, rains in summer. Sunny days once or twice and miscalculated. Here, even in June, snow turns white on the slopes of the hills. The snow cap decorates Sarychev Peak all year round. This volcano is famous for being one of the most active active volcanoes region. Norov at Sarychev Peak is cool - you can’t call him sleeping. Eruptions, though short-lived, are frequent and strong.
Despite all the natural disasters, the Japanese during the Second World War turned the island into an impregnable fortress, where there were underground tunnels, an airfield, and even a railway. The garrison on the island exceeded three thousand people. In general, the Kuril Islands were used by the Japanese as a strategic barrier to exit from Sea of Okhotsk to the Pacific Ocean. A whole network of various military defensive fortifications was erected here.
To get to the island by air, you need a fair amount of luck. The so-called windows - small gaps - open over the island very rarely, and people sometimes have to sit at the airport for several days to get into this window that has opened for a short time. The nearest airfield from which you can get to Matua is on the island of Iturup. It's about 500 kilometers. And if suddenly the weather over Matua deteriorates after the "turntable" has almost flown up to the island, then you have to return to the base on the remaining fuel. As the helicopter pilots say, "with adventures."
When approaching the island, you can see that it is pitted with coastal fortifications. Trenches originating at the very edge of the water. Pillboxes and bunkers, hollowed out in the numerous hills of the island, look like empty loopholes towards the sea. It is noticeable that the island really resembles a fortress rising directly from the sea. In mid-June, Matua has about seven degrees of heat and a piercing wind. You have to warm up in winter: jackets, sweaters, boots with high berets. An expedition of the Russian Defense Ministry, the Russian Geographical Society, the Eastern Military District and the Pacific Fleet has been working here since May under the leadership of Vice Admiral Andrei Vladimirovich Ryabukhin, Deputy Commander of the Pacific Fleet.
Despite the fact that since September 1945 the island passed to the USSR, no real research was carried out on it. The current expedition is designed to unravel the mysteries of the most little-studied island of the Kuril chain. And there are a lot of secrets here. The researchers have three main tasks: to study the military-historical component of the island, to study the volcanic activity of Matua, and to understand how to develop a military infrastructure on the island.
The scientific group of the Russian Geographical Society is engaged in routine, but very necessary work on the island - it makes maps of the island: landscape, geological and soil. Soil and plant samples are taken. The second group is looking for artifacts left over from the Japanese. So, in June, the search engines raised their wings Japanese aircraft release in 1942 and brought him to the camp. Items that can tell about the life of Japanese soldiers were also found: ammunition, dishes, clothes, household items. Members of the expedition even climbed Sarychev Peak, where two flags were hoisted - Russian Federation and St. Andrew's flag of the Navy.
Climbing the VOLCANO is not just hoisting flags, the expedition members tried to understand which side the eruption with a plume is going to. From a height you can clearly see where the island has changed its structure, geography, where new beaches have appeared. They found out how Japanese barriers, including anti-mudflow outflows, blocked the path of mud flowing towards the Japanese barracks. I am interested in one of the leaders of the expedition, a full member of the Russian Geographical Society Andrey Ivanov, whether Matua is really a mysterious island where the secrets of Imperial Japan are kept, or is it idle speculation of journalists.
“Journalists love to ask questions about riddles,” the scientist smiles. - Of course, it is still difficult to thoroughly study what is left of the Japanese, to understand where the myths are and where the reality is. We managed to find out that the legends about what exists on Matua underground city, built by them at the end of the Second World War, have soil under them. We have found quite a few entrances that lead underground, all of them are blown up or filled up. We dug up one such entrance and found behind it numerous underground passages, storage facilities that were connected to the above-ground system of trenches and trenches by special passages. It's not a legend, it's real."
At the same time, the main goal of the expedition is not to guess Japanese puzzles, but to make a comprehensive assessment of the territory in order to understand how suitable it is for development, whether mudflows and tsunamis will wash away the new infrastructure of the island. The expedition is also interested in how the Japanese garrison solved life support issues, because, as it turned out, there are no water sources on the island.
The head of the expedition, Deputy Commander of the Pacific Fleet Andrey Ryabukhin, told Army Standard that the Japanese used exclusively melt water, which is formed due to melting snow on the volcano. Therefore, many old Japanese filters for water purification are found on Matua, which were invented by the head of the 731st detachment in Manchuria, Shiro Ishii (a Japanese doctor who conducted inhuman experiments on people and developed bacteriological weapons). They assumed two types of cleaning, coarse and fine. Rough with the help of brushes removed all the dirt and debris from the water. During the thin period, water was driven through ceramic filters under pressure, then it went through trenches into special containers.
Part of the system was carried out in the area mountain system, and part of the Japanese arranged near the lakes, which were formed during the period of snow melting. Pumping stations were installed next to them. By the way, due to the fact that there were many rats on the island, which also used water, strong antibiotics were found here, with which underground hospitals were literally littered. Tablets prevented the defeat of personnel. At the same time, the members of the expedition assert that there was no actual production of bacteriological weapons on the island. After all, if something had gone wrong, then the Japanese garrisons in the Kuriles would have died themselves.
The island was needed primarily as a huge storage and security base for an extended line of communication that ran from "big" Japan to the Paramushir and Shumshu islands, where large garrisons were stationed. Only American submarines and surface ships posed a threat to the safety of this route. Since Allied aircraft could not actively bomb the islands due to the flight range, the main emphasis was placed on defense against the fleet. Therefore, a large airfield with two lanes was built on the island, where fighter aircraft and bombers were based.
Also, up to ten thousand people could be on the island in order to, if necessary, strengthen the Japanese garrisons on northern islands Shumshu and Paramushir. I ask Ryabukhin: did the expedition manage to understand how the defense of the island was built?
“We found out the system of communications and fortification of the Japanese, understood how the defense structure of Matua was built,” he says. - The peculiarity of the structure of the island is a large number of gullies - long gorges in which they concentrated their warehouses. The road system was developed on the island. It was of a serpentine type and led to where separate garrisons were stationed. A warehouse and barracks were equipped next to the garrison, as well as positions for defense - trenches, pillboxes. So far, we can only guess how food and ammunition were transported to the positions. It is already clear that Matua was developed automobile transport and the railroad."
Of course, the search engines have not yet found the railway itself, only traces of it are found. One can only guess where it passed - these are tunnels pierced underground and, like arteries, crossing the island. The fact that it worked is also evidenced by numerous finds: trolleys rusted from time to time, fragments of rails. In addition, brass or bronze pipelines were laid throughout the island to supply fuel.
The search engines find characteristic fittings and pumping parts, but the tanks where the fuel was stored have not yet been found either. In addition, the expedition found out how the Japanese built their barracks. They were collapsible and consisted of a metal frame and wood. All pillboxes on the island were also sheathed with wood.
The Japanese airfield is now in a rather deplorable state, it was badly damaged by air raids and natural disasters. Now there are several helipads. However, in the future, its restoration is possible. Certainly, main question: do we need this piece of land, absolutely unsuitable for normal life?
“Since last year, the Sea of Okhotsk has become our inland sea- says Andrey Ryabukhin. This is our sea. And here, so to speak, there are many open doors. And everyone wants to enter them. But with what intentions they enter these doors - good or not, you will not immediately understand. In order to reliably protect our territories, we must make efforts so that later we don’t regret that we didn’t do anything. Loopholes still exist, and they must be eliminated, including by creating Russian bases. So far, it is planned that Pacific Fleet units will be located on the island, which will ensure the protection of state interests.”
At the same time, the vice admiral believes that it makes no sense to restore the Japanese infrastructure on the island.
“Now, in modern conditions, go deep underground, build cities there and railways expensive and impractical. he continues. - Again, all the underground communications that we open are very dilapidated. They crumble, crumbling. The structure of the soil here is peculiar, including rocks that are very fragile. The fact that the Japanese dug up here was very relevant for that time, now it’s gone.”
Conclusions about whether Matua is needed by the armed forces, whether a base will appear there, will be made already this year. And there is a high probability that our troops will still be located on Matua.
The other day, on the tiny uninhabited island of Matua in the Kuril chain (an area of about 52 square kilometers), the second expedition of the Russian Defense Ministry began work. An impressive detachment of warships and vessels arrived to the island from Vladivostok under the command of Vice Admiral Andrey Ryabukhin, Deputy Commander of the Pacific Fleet. As part of the detachment of the large landing craft "Admiral Nevelskoy", the killer KIL-168 and the rescue tug SB-522. There are about a hundred researchers and 30 units of engineering equipment on board to ensure various work.
Exactly a year ago, the first such expedition on the same Admiral Nevelsky already visited Matua. And it was also led by Vice Admiral Ryabukhin. More than 1000 laboratory studies on physical, chemical and biological indicators were carried out by specialists, more than 200 measurements of the external environment were made, and radiation and chemical reconnaissance was carried out. Divers explored both tiny bays of this piece of land - Ainu (maximum depths up to 25 meters) and Yamato (depths up to 9 meters). During the Second World War, it was through them that the supply of the seven thousandth Japanese garrison on Matua was carried out, on which the largest and well-equipped military base of the imperial army was located. Most of its defensive structures were carved into the surrounding rocks and served as a reliable shelter for personnel and ammunition.
But the main thing on the island was not numerous artillery pillboxes and underground tunnels. Of primary importance was the largest military airfield at that time, which allowed the Japanese from these places to control from the air a vast part of the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk, as well as most of the islands of the Kuril chain. Three concreted and heated by thermal underground springs runways(GDP) with a length of 1200 meters each made the airfield almost all-weather. However, in 1945, the Japanese 41st separate mixed regiment defending here (numbering three thousand soldiers and officers, the rest of the garrison had already been evacuated by that time) surrendered to the Soviet paratroopers without firing a shot.
Despite the fact that after the Second World War the island remained almost deserted and the Soviet authorities almost never used it, as it turned out, that airfield is still in good condition today. In any case, Russian military helicopters have been landing on it since the summer of 2016. Is the island's airfield capable of accommodating planes after minor restoration work? And if so, what types? This was also found out last year by the expedition of Vice Admiral Ryabukhin.
The purpose of such an unprecedented activity of sailors from the Far East is not a secret. For the first time, it was announced in May 2016 at the military council of the Eastern Military District Colonel General Sergei Surovikin: the possibility of locating a new Pacific Fleet base on the island is being studied. Moreover, on June 29, when the work of the first expedition was still in full swing, an unnamed source in the RF Ministry of Defense told RIA Novosti that construction of base facilities on Matua will start at a frantic pace - by the end of 2016. However, contrary to these plans, so far nothing has happened there. Why?
It is known about at least one unexpected problem that the Pacific Fleet command faced: fresh water. When the Japanese garrison was stationed here, there was clearly plenty of water on Matua. This is evidenced by huge concrete reservoirs preserved in the rocks. As well as an extensive network of ceramic pipes, which stretches from them to the defensive structures. While the pipes, of course, are empty. To date, our engineers have not figured out how to refill the ingenious Japanese water supply. According to Vice Admiral Ryabukhin, "we still do not understand exactly what flowed in and where and where it flowed from." In the meantime, this is a secret, construction on Matua cannot be started. Tankers and aquarius ships cannot satisfy her needs for life-giving moisture.
But all this, apparently, is temporary difficulties, and our fleet will someday receive a new base on this island. It seems important to try to understand why we need it? And what kind of base would it be?
What can be said for sure today is that there can only be temporary moorings for warships and auxiliary vessels. The reasons are not only that the Ainu and Yamato bays are too open by nature and not sufficiently protected from ocean winds and storms. Although in the directions they are designated as possible locations anchorages.
The main problem for creating a full-fledged ship-based point, obviously, is active volcano on Matua Sarychev with a height of 1446 meters. Its strong eruptions last century occurred four times, in 1928, 1930, 1946, 1976, one eruption occurred in 2009. Then two streams of red-hot lava slid into the ocean, solidified and increased the area of the island by one and a half square kilometers at once. Not without reason, in the language of the Ainu people who once lived in these parts, Matua is “a small burning bay”.
But the volcano is not the only problem for Matua. This is an area of high seismic activity. Regular powerful earthquakes cause devastating tsunami. For example, the most powerful earthquake in the history of the modern Kuriles, the Simushir earthquake, which occurred on November 15, 2006, hit the island with a giant wave, in some places reaching a height of 20 meters. Which, apparently, is comparable to the consequences of a nearby underwater nuclear explosion. What would be left in this case of the moorings and our ships on Matua?
Thus, we are unlikely to build a new ship-based station for the Pacific Fleet on Matua. Then in the name of what fuss? Restore the military airfield? Given the three wonderful runways built by the Japanese, their return to life, obviously, will not require much effort. But the length of each, as was said, is 1200 meters, the width is 80 meters. This is more than enough to land even a helicopter regiment. For fighters such as Su-27, Su-35 and MiG-29 - too. But, for example, for heavy Tu-22M3 bombers it will not be enough, the stripes will have to be lengthened almost twice. But after all, it is precisely in the landing of the Russian Long-Range Aviation here that the majority of Russian military experts see the main point of the new military base on Matua. Because in this case, the Pacific coast of the United States will be within the reach of our heavy bombers. This means that not only the "strategists" Tu-95MS and Tu-160 will be able to fly out to patrol the "state" lines. The circle of potential threats to the Americans from Russia will be much wider.
Full of optimism about this. former commander in chief Air force RF General of the Army Pyotr Deinekin: “As for the airfield on Matua, it is currently too small to support heavy aircraft flights. But in the future, everything will be done to turn this airfield into an air base.”
The only question is, will the terrain allow it? After all, at least one runway for the Tu-22M3 will have to be more than doubled - up to 3-3.5 km. With a maximum island length of 11 kilometers and a width of 6.4 kilometers, this can be a problem. Especially when you consider that a significant part of the territory is occupied by the Sarychev volcano. Surely, the expedition of Vice Admiral Ryabukhin is also struggling to solve this problem today.
Meanwhile, even if it is not possible to “land” Russian Long-Range Aviation on Matua and the matter is limited only to fighters, there will still be great sense in the new island base. Because the boundaries of our capabilities for air cover of the base of strategic nuclear submarine missile cruisers, including the new Boreys, in Vilyuchinsk (Kamchatka) will also decently move apart.
Indeed, today the task of fighter cover for Kamchatka is mainly assigned to the 865th separate air regiment, which flies on MiG-31 interceptors. The regiment is based at the Yelizovo airfield near Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. And Matua is about 700 kilometers southwest of the aircraft stands of the 865th separate regiment. Accordingly, in this direction, towards the center of the Pacific Ocean, the far boundary of the potential interception of enemy air attack weapons will be shifted by the same amount. The gain in time and space for us in the event of a surprise attack is more than impressive.
Needless to say, the same thing on Matua will most likely be done with anti-ship winged systems. missiles "Bastion", "Ball", as well as anti-aircraft missile systems S-400 "Triumph". Since last year, such weapons have already been deployed in Kamchatka, which immediately provoked an understandable sharp reaction in the United States and Japan. There they started talking with concern that on the peninsula Russia is creating another “A2 / AD restricted access zone,” as such areas are called in the Pentagon.
Until now, it was believed that we have already created “zones A2 / AD” in Kaliningrad, Crimea, near St. Petersburg, Murmansk, Yerevan and in Syrian Tartus. But all this is in the northwestern, western and southwestern directions. Now it's the turn of the Russian Far East. Overseas strategists have to add Kamchatka to the previous list. However, if we manage to quickly turn the island of Matua into a fortress, even the defense of the base of Russian nuclear missile cruisers will become deeply echeloned. And getting close to the peninsula with impunity will not work.
The second large-scale expedition of the Ministry of Defense and the Russian Geographical Society will leave for the Kuril Island of Matua in 2017. This was announced on Wednesday, September 14, by the commander of the Pacific Fleet, Admiral Sergei Avakyants, at a meeting of the media club.
The Japanese began to develop the island from the 1930s and gave it an exclusively military significance. "The island served as a springboard for further expansion and capture of the Kamchatka Peninsula. A unique system of underground structures was created, connected by a single system of tunnels. Underground structures are a separate issue that requires deep study," said Admiral Sergey Avakyants.
According to him, underground structures are divided into two types: fortifications and structures of unknown purpose - rectangular, square and round, up to 150 meters long.
“Initially, there was an assumption that these were warehouses, but everything was taken out of them. And if these were warehouses, then any material traces would remain. allowed to supply up to 3 thousand volts there. Naturally, this is excess voltage for storage facilities. But, it is obvious that some work was carried out in these facilities, "- quotes the leader of the TASS expedition.
The admiral also said that the same high-voltage cable was found on the slope of the Sarychev volcano. "The volcano is alive, the volcano is still breathing. Powerful eruptions occur every 25 years. Remains of an old road leading to the vent of the volcano have been discovered. Characteristic entrances to underground structures from the water surface are visible from a helicopter. Serious deep-sea studies of the northern and northwestern parts of the volcano are needed ", Avakyants stressed.
He noted that during the expedition, dishes with symbols characteristic of the imperial family - stars were discovered, that is, the island was visited by the highest military-political leadership of Japan during the war, and the garrison was given exceptional attention.
"If on all the islands the Japanese garrisons fought fiercely, to the last soldier, then the island of Matua capitulated last, but capitulated without a fight. The garrison numbered 7.5 thousand people and, which is not typical for the Japanese army, did not show any resistance, "- the commander said. "We concluded that the garrison had fulfilled its main task - to remove all traces and all facts that could lead to the disclosure of the true nature of the activities on this island," he continued.
According to the admiral, the expedition also studied the volcanic activity of the island and discovered the remains of an ancient paleovolcano dating back several million years. "Thus, the version requires confirmation that the Kamchatka Peninsula, the islands of the Kuril ridge and Japanese islands were a continuous strip of land," said Avakyants.
The commander of the Pacific Fleet believes that Toporkovy Island, which is supposedly connected to Matua by underground tunnels, also requires further study. "With the permission and at the direction of the President of the Russian Geographical Society, in 2017 we are conducting the second expedition with the involvement of a wide range of specialists from the Academy of Sciences, the Russian Geographical Society and the Moscow state university. The fauna and flora of this island, volcanic activity, water supply system, underground structures, including underwater ones, require further study. And besides, it is necessary to conduct archaeological research," the admiral concluded.
The command of the Eastern Military District the possibility of a promising basing of the forces of the Pacific Fleet on the island of Matua.
