Results of the expedition to Matua Island. Will the Kuril Island of Matua become a new base for the Russian Pacific Fleet? Defense aspect of the “mysterious island” of Matua

TV channel "Zvezda" filmed documentary“Matua Island” about the Russian research expedition Geographical Society and the Russian Ministry of Defense. Experts went to the island back in 2016 and spent many months collecting materials about its natural, historical and cultural heritage. Why exactly Matua interested the Russian Geographical Society and what secrets the island keeps - in the material “360”.

From a no-man's island to a mothballed military base

Matua Island is part of 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 - ancient people Japanese islands. In his language, the island is called the “hellmouth.”

For a long time, Matua existed on its own, and only in the 17th century did the first expeditions set off to the Kuril Islands. The Japanese, Russians and Dutch visited there and even claimed the land as the property of their East India Company.

By 1736, the Ainu converted to Orthodoxy and became Russian subjects, paying the residents 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 on Matua in 1813. The island's population has always been small: in 1831, only 15 inhabitants were counted on Matua, although at that time the census only counted adult men. In 1855, the Russian Empire officially received the right to the island, but 20 years later Matua found itself under Japanese rule - such was the price for Sakhalin.

Shortly before World War II, the island became a major stronghold Kuril ridge. A fort with anti-tank ditches, underground tunnels and trenches appeared on Matua. An underground residence in the hill was created for the officers. After the start 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, not only historians, but also politicians were interested in Matua. 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 Aleutian Islands. The question is closed.

The Russian border outpost was located on Matua until 2000. Then the entire naval infrastructure of the island was mothballed, and the inhabitants left it. Matua is now uninhabited. small island 11 kilometers long and just over six kilometers wide, it still holds many secrets. Members of the Russian Geographical Society and employees went to open them Russian ministry defense

Secrets of Matua

Last September, 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 the Minister of Defense 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 determined.

Initially there was an assumption that these were warehouses, but everything was removed from them. And if these were warehouses, then any material traces would remain. Moreover, it was discovered that a high-voltage cable was connected to these premises, and the power supply system made it possible to supply up to 3 thousand volts there. Naturally, this is excess voltage for warehouse premises. But it is obvious that some work was carried out in these structures
Sergey Avakyants.

Among the unusual finds is a high-voltage cable on the slope of the Sarychev volcano. There are remains nearby old road, which leads to the crater of the volcano. At the same time, from a helicopter, members of the expedition noticed the entrances to underground structures. What exactly is in the thickness of the volcano is still unknown. Experts were also interested in 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 fulfilled its main task“removed 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, members of the expedition decided to study the collected materials, and a few months later return to Matua to reveal other secrets of the island. What else will surprise Russians with a small piece of land that went from no-man's land to a secret Japanese fort, time will tell.

The second expedition of the Russian Ministry of Defense and the Russian Geographical Society to the island Matua Kurilskaya The ridge landed today in Aina and Dvoynaya bays. A detachment of ships of the Pacific Fleet delivered more than 100 military personnel and civilian specialists and 30 pieces of equipment here.

Earlier, the Ministry of Defense announced plans to create a base for Pacific Fleet ships on Matua and restore the airfield. Head of the Russian Military Department Sergei Shoigu noted: “We intend to restore, and not only restore, but also actively exploit this island.”

From June to September, the expedition center of the Ministry of Defense, the Russian Geographical Society and military sailors plan to map the area, explore the Sarychev Peak volcano, hydrography and topography of the coastal bottom, and compile an atlas of marine life in the adjacent water area. Hydrogeologists, volcanologists, hydrobiologists, soil scientists, submariners, searchers and archaeologists will work on Matua. Specialists will analyze the chemical composition natural waters and potential soil fertility. This is an area of increased seismic activity, and volcanologists intend to reconstruct the activity of the Sarychev Peak volcano over the past 100 thousand years in order to assess the volcanic danger of the territory in the future.

Lost in the ocean, Matua, with an area of only 52 square kilometers, is not without reason arousing such keen interest.

Strategic importance

The Navy is studying the possibility of creating a base for ships in the Kuril Islands. Long-range aviation also has its own interest. Two expeditions to Matua are actually a full cycle of design and survey work that must be completed on the eve of large-scale construction of a new naval base, or more precisely, a logistics support point for the Pacific Fleet.

The first expedition explored Matua in May-July 2016. Specialists conducted radiation and chemical reconnaissance, studied fortifications and other historical sites, performed more than a thousand laboratory studies, and made hundreds of measurements of the external environment, including the hydrography of bays and bays.

Matua is an island of the middle group of the Great Ridge of the Kuril Islands (in a straight line to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky - 670 kilometers, up to Japanese Hokkaido- 740 kilometers). Administratively. During World War II it was one of the largest Japanese naval bases. The indigenous inhabitants of the island were hunters - the Ainu; in 1875 they were replaced by Japanese soldiers. In 1945, Soviet border guards settled on the island, and later air defense units. In 2000, military facilities on Matua were mothballed, and the island became uninhabited for 15 years.

The island resembles a fortress in the middle of the ocean. Matua is reliably protected by inaccessible cliffs and high banks. Not bad Japanese pillboxes, paved roads, three runways of a military airfield, as well as spacious underground structures of unknown purpose.

In the southwestern part of Matua there is a convenient and relatively safe strait for basing ships, protected from the winds by the small island of Toporkovy. It was here that the Japanese roadsteads and piers were located. Since the 1930s, the island served the Japanese as a springboard for further expansion towards Kamchatka.

In August 1945, Soviet paratroopers discovered practically unarmed Japanese on Matua: the 3,800 surrendered soldiers and officers had only 2,000 rifles, and the pilots, sailors and artillerymen simply disappeared (the garrison numbered 7.5 thousand military personnel). For comparison: on Shumshu Island, Soviet troops captured more than 60 Japanese tanks. From interrogations of the commander of the northern group, General Tsumi Fusaki, it is known that the Matua garrison was not subordinate to him and was controlled directly from headquarters in Hokkaido. The island had a special status and keeps many secrets to this day.

New fortress

Russia borders on the sea with 12 countries, and not all of them are friendly. Until recently, our Pacific neighbors, the United States, practiced military-political “containment” of Russia. And Japan lays claim to four Russian islands - Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai. And it seems quite logical to strengthen the Far Eastern borders, where since 2015 a unified coastal defense system has been created, necessary to control the strait zones of the Kuril Islands and the Bering Strait, cover fleet deployment routes and increase the combat stability of naval strategic nuclear forces. The steel Kuril ridge is a forced measure, but very effective.

The Kuril Islands are forming. Today, the Sea of Okhotsk is almost completely covered by the DBK (it is logical to assume the presence of S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems on the Kuril Islands line). New missile capabilities make it possible to create specially protected sea areas (anti-access/area-denial), most favorable for SSBN combat patrols - four thousand miles from San Francisco and the positions of American ground-based strategic forces in the states of Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota .

The Kuril Islands and Kamchatka must turn into indestructible sea fortress Russia. And to realize this goal, the small island of Matui is of great importance.

The second large-scale expedition of the Ministry of Defense and the Russian Geographical Society will go to Kuril Island Matua in 2017. The commander of the Pacific Fleet, Admiral Sergei Avakyants, announced this on Wednesday, September 14, at a media club meeting.

The Japanese began to develop the island in the 1930s and gave it 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 topic that requires in-depth study,” said Admiral Sergei Avakyants.

According to him, underground structures are divided into two types: fortifications and structures of unknown purpose - rectangular, square and round shape, up to 150 meters long.

“Initially there was an assumption that these were warehouse premises, but everything was removed from them. And if these were warehouse premises, then some material traces would have remained. Moreover, it was discovered that a high-voltage cable and power supply system were connected to these premises allowed up to 3 thousand volts to be supplied there. Naturally, this is excess voltage for storage facilities, but it is obvious that some kind of work was carried out in these structures,” TASS quotes the head of the expedition.

The admiral also reported that the same high-voltage cable was discovered on the slope of the Sarychev volcano. “The volcano is alive, the volcano is still breathing. Powerful eruptions occur every 25 years. The remains of an old road leading to the volcano’s mouth have been discovered. From a helicopter, characteristic entrances to underground structures from the water surface are visible. Serious deep-sea research is needed in the northern and northwestern parts of the volcano ", Avakyants emphasized.

He noted that during the expedition, dishes were discovered with symbols characteristic of the imperial family - stars, 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, until 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 offer any resistance,” - the commander said. “We concluded that the garrison fulfilled its main task - it removed all traces and all facts that could lead to the disclosure of the true nature of activities on this island,” he continued.

According to the admiral, the expedition studied and volcanic activity islands and discovered the remains of an ancient paleovolcano dating back several million years. “Thereby, the version that the Kamchatka Peninsula, the islands of the Kuril ridge and Japanese islands“represented a continuous strip of land,” Avakyants noted.

The commander of the Pacific Fleet believes that Toporkovy Island, which is presumably associated with Matua underground tunnels. "With the permission and on the instructions of the President of the Russian Geographical Society, in 2017 we are conducting a second expedition involving 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, require further study. And, in addition, archaeological research is necessary,” the admiral concluded.

The Eastern Military District Command has the possibility of a future basing of the Pacific Fleet forces on the island of Matua.

Reveal 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 research, many mysteries still remain. Tunnels and underground structures have not been fully studied. It is necessary to find out 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.

Currently, the headquarters of the Pacific Fleet has completed the development of a detailed survey plan for the Kuril Islands, and the personnel and necessary equipment for survey work as part of the expedition to Matua Island in 2017 have been determined. 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,” said the head of the information support department of the press service of the Eastern Military District (EMD) for the Pacific Fleet (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 undergo special tests and programs to establish the degree of stress resistance and level of performance in extreme conditions, the psychological compatibility of future expedition participants 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. Length about 11 km, width 6.4 km. During World War II, it was home to one of Japan's largest naval bases. 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, which are heated thermal springs, so they can be used all year round. In 2000, the base was mothballed and Matua Island officially became uninhabited.

In 2016, the first joint research expedition of the Russian Ministry of Defense and the Russian Geographical Society took place on Matua, in which military personnel from 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 Pacific Fleet. Then an extensive network of tunnels was discovered on Matua, as well as the sunken Japanese light fighter Mitsubishi Zero, produced 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 identifying the marine inhabitants of the Matua water area and neighboring islands. Researchers will also have to 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 count the species of marine hydrobionts, compare the biotas of adjacent water areas to assess the state of biodiversity and identify possible routes of migration and interpenetration of elements of flora and fauna in the North Pacific Ocean.

In September last year, tvzvezda.ru correspondent Alexander Stepanov visited Matua. Here are excerpts from his report “The Secret of Matua Island: When the Japanese Fortress Will Become a Russian Base.”

From a bird's eye view, Matua Island appears to be a small spot - 11 kilometers long and six and a half wide, two-thirds of the island's area is occupied by an active VOLCANO - Sarychev Peak. The island is not at all suitable for life. Severe climatic conditions: in summer there are constant winds and rains. One or two sunny days and I’ve had enough. Here, even in June, there is white snow on the slope of the hills. A snow cap adorns Sarychev Peak all year round. This volcano is famous for being one of the most active active volcanoes region. Norov at Sarychev Peak is steep - you can’t call him sleeping. Eruptions, although short-lived, are frequent and strong.

Despite all the natural disasters, the Japanese turned the island into impregnable fortress where they were and underground tunnels, and 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 Sea of Okhotsk V Pacific Ocean. A whole network of various military defensive fortifications was erected here.

Getting to the island by air requires 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 airfield for several days to get into this window that opens briefly. The nearest airfield from which you can get to Matua is on the island of Iturup. This is about 500 kilometers. And if suddenly the weather over Matua deteriorates after the helicopter has almost approached the island, then you have to return to base with the remaining fuel. As helicopter pilots say, “with adventures.”

When approaching the island, you can see that it is pitted with coastal fortifications. Trenches starting at the very edge of the water. Pillboxes and bunkers, hollowed out in numerous hills of the island, look with empty loopholes towards the sea. It is noticeable that the island really resembles a fortress rising straight from the sea. In mid-June on Matua there is about seven degrees Celsius and a piercing wind. You have to keep warm in winter: jackets, sweaters, high-top boots. An expedition of the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Russian Geographical Society, the Eastern Military District and the Pacific Fleet has been working here since May under the leadership of Deputy Commander of the Pacific Fleet, Vice Admiral Andrei Vladimirovich Ryabukhin.

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 secrets of the most little-studied island of the Kuril ridge. 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 military infrastructure on the island.

The scientific group of the Russian Geographical Society is engaged in routine, but very necessary work on the island - compiling maps of the island: landscape, geological and soil. Samples of soil and plant species are taken. The second group is looking for artifacts that remained from the Japanese. So, in June, search engines lifted the wing of a Japanese aircraft manufactured in 1942 and brought it to the camp. Also discovered were objects that could tell about the life of Japanese soldiers: ammunition, dishes, clothing, and household items. Members of the expedition even climbed Sarychev Peak, where two flags were hoisted - Russian Federation and St. Andrew's Navy flag.

Climbing a VOLCANO is not just about planting flags; the expedition members tried to understand in which direction the eruption and its plume were going. From above you can clearly see where the island has changed its structure, geography, and where new beaches have appeared. They found out how Japanese barriers, including anti-mud flows, blocked the path of mud heading towards the Japanese barracks. I asked one of the leaders of the expedition, a full member of the Russian Geographical Society Andrei Ivanov, whether Matua is really a mystery island where the secrets of imperial Japan are kept, or whether this is the 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 that exist on Matua underground city, built by them at the end of the Second World War, have some basis. We have discovered quite a few entrances that lead underground, all of them have been blown up or blocked up. We excavated one such entrance and discovered behind it numerous underground passages and storage rooms, which were connected to the above-ground system of trenches and trenches by special passages. This is not a legend, it really is.”

At the same time, the main goal of the expedition is not to solve Japanese puzzles, but to make a comprehensive assessment of the territory in order to understand how suitable it is for development, and whether mudflows and a tsunami 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 leader of the expedition, Deputy Commander of the Pacific Fleet Andrei Ryabukhin, told Army Standard that the Japanese used exclusively melt water, which is formed by melting snow on the volcano. Therefore, on Matua they find many old Japanese filters for water purification, which were invented by the head of the 731st detachment in Manchuria, Shiro Ishii (a Japanese doctor who conducted inhumane experiments on people and developed bacteriological weapons). They suggested two types of cleaning, coarse and fine. The coarse brush removed all dirt and debris from the water. During the thinning, water was forced 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 the Japanese set up some near lakes that were formed during the snow melting period. 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 the water, strong antibiotics were found here, with which the underground hospitals were literally overwhelmed. The tablets prevented injury to personnel. At the same time, the expedition members claim that there was no production of bacteriological weapons on the island. After all, if something had gone wrong, the Japanese garrisons in the Kuril Islands would have died themselves.

The island was needed primarily as a huge base for storing and ensuring the security of an extended line of communication that ran from “big” Japan to the islands of Paramushir and Shumshu, where large garrisons were stationed. The only threats to the safety of this route were American submarines and surface ships. Since Allied aircraft could not actively bomb the islands due to their flight range, the main emphasis was placed on defense against the fleet. Therefore, a large airfield with two runways was built on the island, where fighter aircraft and bombers were based.

Also, up to ten thousand people could be on the island 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 figured out the Japanese communications and fortification system and understood how Matua’s defense structure was built,” he says. – A feature of the island’s structure is the large number of gorges - long gorges in which they concentrated their warehouses. The island had a developed road system. It was of a serpentine type and led to where individual garrisons were stationed. Near the garrison, a warehouse and barracks were equipped, as well as defense positions - trenches, pillboxes. For now, we can only guess how food and ammunition were delivered to the positions. It is already clear that road transport and railways were developed on Matua.”

Of course, search engines have not yet found the railroad itself; only traces of it are found. One can only guess where it passed - these are tunnels made underground and, like arteries, crossing the island. The fact that it operated is also evidenced by numerous finds: trolleys rusted by time, fragments of rails. In addition, brass or bronze pipelines were laid throughout the island to supply fuel.

Searchers have found characteristic fittings and pumping parts, but the containers where the fuel was stored have not yet been found. In addition, the expedition found out how the Japanese built their barracks. They were collapsible and consisted of a metal frame and wood. All the pillboxes on the island were also covered 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 equipped there. 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 Andrei 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 won’t immediately understand. In order to reliably protect our territories, we must make efforts so that later we do not regret that we did nothing. There are still loopholes, and they need to be eliminated, including by creating Russian bases. For now, 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 restoring Japanese infrastructure on the island makes no sense.

"Now in modern conditions, go deep underground, build cities there and railways expensive and impractical. - he continues. – Again, all the underground communications that we are opening are very dilapidated. They crumble, dilapidated. The soil structure here is unique, including very fragile rocks. What the Japanese dug here was very relevant for that time, but is no longer the case.”

Conclusions about whether the armed forces need Matua and whether a base will appear there will be made this year. And there is a high probability that our troops will still be stationed on Matua.

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