A 15 km journey through a pipe in a semi-arc in pitch darkness and in full gear. Fainting, hallucinations, burns to the lungs. Congestion of people and abandoned ammunition. Ventilation vents filled with earth. On March 8, at 5:30 a.m., about eight hundred soldiers from the Veterans, Vostok, 30th Motorized Rifle Regiment, 11th Airborne Brigade, and Akhmat special forces marched 2 km north of the center of Sudzha in an industrial zone behind enemy lines and engaged in battle. The result is an onslaught, pressure on the Ukrainian Armed Forces from several sides and the rapid liberation of more than 10 settlements, including Sudzha itself on March 12. A special correspondent of Izvestia has collected hitherto unpublished facts about Operation Potok, which has already gone down in military history as one of the most extraordinary and daring.
Pickaxe and shovel
The operation was prepared for several months. And for many, many weeks they dug a tunnel that originates near an unremarkable landing near the highway two dozen kilometers north of the cherished Sudzha. You dive into a hole and move 500 m through a narrow earthen corridor to point zero. The depth is from 2 to 6 m, sometimes the tunnel goes down steps, then rises up. Sometimes you have to cross the same gas pipe that was laid here back in Soviet times, the Urengoy – Pomary – Uzhgorod line.
An underground corridor leading to the drop point
According to unofficial information, the idea to use the gas pipeline came to our military back in the fall of 2024, when various options for the release of Suji were being worked out, but there was gas inside the pipe then. On January 1, Kiev cut off supplies to Europe — the gift, as they say, came from nowhere. Large-scale construction work began almost immediately. The soldiers of the Veterans brigade took up picks and shovels (exactly one year ago they made an equally cunning and daring maneuver — they marched 2 km through sewage pipes to the rear of the Avdiivka garrison of the Armed Forces of Ukraine). The fighters lived and spent the night right there, in place underground, practically without going outside. They were taken to the sauna once a week. No one knew what they were building or why.
Into the unknown
As Sergey, the commander of the Akhmat special forces communications unit, told Izvestia with the call sign Timso (he is depicted in perhaps the most famous photograph from the tube), at the end of February, he was informed that in the near future they would have to "go behind enemy lines" as part of a combined squad to "liberate their native land."". The details were announced only three days before the launch.
Commander of the communications unit "Akhmata" Timso
"Our unit had to establish combat communication within all the assault groups," explains Timso. — I have selected ten reliable fighters to enter the tube. In the process of preparation, their number has grown to 17. Initially, I understood that I would not take people over 40-45 years old, not physically developed enough, and also too tall. We had no idea what lay ahead. The exit point in the Suji area was also not sufficiently explored. Theoretically, we could have gone out and been immediately covered with Grads or shot from a tank. Nevertheless, there was no doubt whether to go or not. A characteristic episode: I was persuaded to go on this mission by my chief of staff, whom I initially did not intend to take, and he proved himself very worthy: he helped to pull out two victims during an underground march. We all considered it an honor to participate in such an important operation.
Pipe entrance
Everyone took with them a machine gun, a bulletproof vest, ammunition for five days of autonomous combat, water, and food. But during the passage of the 15-kilometer route, many got rid of the ballast — the way was painfully difficult: they threw armored plates, ammunition, unloading, helmets, stew, etc. Sometimes this load created congestion, which had to be cleared. According to Timso, it became clear only inside that it was necessary to take a minimum — weapons, ammunition, water (I wanted to drink, I didn't want to eat), energy bars, painkillers, a seat mat and knee pads (few people brought them with them). To transport equipment, batteries, and weapons, the signalmen lowered down two cargo carts and three electric scooters.
Claustrophobia, hallucinations, chemistry
For most of the fighters who went down the tube, who had been through fire and water in battles, the psychological aspects (enclosed space, silence, darkness, endless waiting) did not become an obstacle. However, Timso says, there were those who lost their nerves — panic attacks and tantrums began. "They were screaming, rushing about, and there was utter horror in their eyes," the military recalls. And you're not going anywhere.: "back 500, forward 500," as Vysotsky sang. In such cases, you had to stay with such a person, calm them down, and say, "We're here, everything will be fine." Some of them were turning back.
Length – 15 km, diameter – 1.45 m
For the same reason — the pressure of the walls, the fear of loneliness — many huddled together in tight groups, although the instruction was to keep at least 10 m apart from each other so as not to die from oxygen starvation. To check the air for breathability, they clicked a lighter: if there is oxygen, the light is on, if there is not. The lighter worked properly for the first day or two, but after that, when hundreds of people entered the pipe, the fire did not flare up. Someone fainted — they tried to drag them to the air vents. The role of hoods was played by holes in the metal (the distance between them was 1-2 km) leading to the outside. Some of them, alas, were covered with earth.
Sleeping during the march
The one-way trip took about two days. In the dark, the sense of time was lost — night, morning, the first day, the second? We slept half-sitting down. As the deputy commander of the special forces communications unit, Akhmat Horvat, told Izvestia, when he was exhausted, he took a nap: sometimes for 15 minutes, then for 1-2 hours. If someone is walking (and the stream was moving continuously), they wake you up and ask you to move over to squeeze through. If a cart is moving, you need to get up and step over it. It's slippery on the so-called floor. There is a methane residue, an oily substance, around the entire circumference of the pipe. All this chemistry penetrated the bronchi, lungs, clogged the nasopharynx, and caused vomiting. Upon release, most of the fighters were placed under medical supervision. They are given ivs, blood tests, and drugs that remove toxins.
Double throw
The Croat is one of the few who have gone through the tube there and back. That is, he made a double throw of 30 km. It took him three days to do everything. His task was to set up a single encryption code on the walkie-talkies of each stormtrooper.
"We didn't know, of course, that the journey would be so long," says Horvath. — My partner and I took with us, for example, only one can of stew and 2 liters of water. We thought — well, let's run away quickly. Nothing, it was enough. Then, while we were walking, we found another 1.5 liters of water.
The Croat walked 30 kilometers underground in 3 days.
Along the way, he broke up crowded groups of fighters more than once, overtaking them. Some were already starting to pass out, some were hallucinating. The most difficult thing for him personally, Horvath shares, was moving on "clogged" legs. One leg wasn't functioning at all at the end (plus the meniscus popped out). He walked the last 800 m on the way back for four hours. Explains: you crawl 3 m, rest for a minute, then start over. At the same time, if there was a choice again — to go or not, he says, he would not doubt for a second.
Those who built an underground city at point zero to provide everything necessary for the operation
The idea of wearing blue armbands (to disorient the enemy) did not work out. When all eight hundred souls poured out early in the morning, it was definitely impossible to confuse this avalanche with the Ukrainian soldiers, the fighters laugh. They were black, oiled through, with bright whites of their eyes and sparkling teeth on their faces. No one had any questions about who was their own or someone else's.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
