Secrets of Matua: what the bowels of the Kuril Island hide. Nuclear secrets of Matua Island Results of the expedition to Matua Island

The other day on a tiny desert island Matua of the Kuril ridge (an area of about 52 square kilometers) the second expedition of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation began work. An impressive detachment of warships and vessels under the command of Deputy Commander of the Pacific Fleet, Vice Admiral Andrei Ryabukhin. As part of the detachment of the large landing craft "Admiral Nevelskoy", the killer KIL-168 and rescue tug SB-522. On board there are about a hundred researchers and 30 pieces of engineering equipment to support various works.

Exactly a year ago, the first such expedition on the same “Admiral Nevelskoy” already visited Matua. And it was also led by Vice Admiral Ryabukhin. Specialists conducted more than 1,000 laboratory studies on physical, chemical and biological indicators, made more than 200 measurements of the external environment, and conducted radiation and chemical reconnaissance. Divers examined 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 7,000-strong Japanese garrison on Matua, where the largest and well-equipped military base of the imperial army was located, was supplied. Most of its defensive structures were carved into the surrounding rocks and served as reliable shelter for personnel and military supplies.

But the main thing on the island was not the 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 a vast part of the Pacific Ocean from the air and Sea of Okhotsk, as well as most of the islands of the Kuril chain. Three concrete runways, each 1200 meters long, concreted and heated by underground thermal springs, 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 single shot.

Despite the fact that after World War II the island remained practically deserted and was hardly used by the Soviet authorities, 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 receiving aircraft 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 unprecedented activity of Far Eastern sailors is no secret. It was first announced in May 2016 at the military council of the Eastern Military District Colonel General Sergei Surovikin: the possibility of placing 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 Russian Ministry of Defense told RIA Novosti that construction of base facilities on Matua will begin at a breakneck pace - before the end of 2016. However, contrary to these plans, nothing is happening there yet. Why?

We know of 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 the huge concrete tanks preserved in the rocks. As well as an extensive network of ceramic pipes, which stretches from them to the defensive structures. So far, the pipes are, of course, empty. To date, our engineers have not figured out how to refill the ingenious Japanese water supply system again. According to Vice Admiral Ryabukhin, “we still do not understand exactly what was flowing into where and where it was flowing out from.” In the meantime, this is a secret, construction on Matua cannot begin. Tankers and Aquarian ships cannot satisfy its needs for life-giving moisture.

But all these, apparently, are temporary difficulties and our fleet will one day receive a new base on this island. It seems important to try to understand why we need it? And what kind of base will this be?

What can be said for sure today is that there can only be temporary berths there for warships and auxiliary vessels. The reasons are not only that the Ainu and Yamato bays are too open by nature and are not sufficiently protected from ocean winds and storms. Although in the sailing directions they are indicated as possible 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 have occurred four times over the past century, in 1928, 1930, 1946, 1976, and one eruption occurred in 2009. Then two streams of hot lava slid into the ocean, froze and increased the area of the island by one and a half square kilometers. It is not for nothing that in the language of the Ainu people who once lived in these parts, Matua means “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 destructive tsunamis. For example, the most powerful Simushir earthquake in the history of the modern Kuril Islands, which occurred on November 15, 2006, hit the island with a gigantic wave, in some places reaching a height of 20 meters. Which is apparently comparable to the consequences of a nearby underwater nuclear explosion. What would be left in this case from the piers and our ships on Matua?

Thus, we are unlikely to build a new Pacific Fleet ship base on Matua. Then why the fuss? Shall we restore the military airfield? Taking into account 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, let’s say, the Tu-22M3 will not be enough for heavy bombers; the runways will have to be almost doubled. But it is precisely in the landing of Russian Long-Range Aviation here that most Russian military experts see the main meaning of the new military base on Matua. Because in this case the Pacific coast of the United States will be within range of our heavy bombers. This means that not only Tu-95MS and Tu-160 “strategists” will be able to fly out to patrol the “shtat” lines. The range of potential threats to Americans from Russia will be much wider.

Full of optimism on this score former commander in chief Air Force Russian Army General 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 ensure that this airfield turns 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 - to 3-3.5 km. With a maximum island length of 11 kilometers and a width of 6.4 kilometers, this could be a problem. Especially when you consider that a significant part of the territory is occupied by the Sarycheva volcano. Surely the expedition of Vice Admiral Ryabukhin is 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 a lot of sense in a 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 expand considerably.

Indeed, today the task of fighter cover for Kamchatka is assigned mainly to the 865th separate air regiment, which flies MiG-31 interceptors. The regiment is based at the Elizovo airfield near Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. And Matua is approximately 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 limit of 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 probably be done with anti-ship cruise 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 caused an understandably sharp reaction in the United States and Japan. There they started talking with concern that Russia was creating another “A2/AD access restriction zone” on the peninsula, as such areas are called in the Pentagon.

Until now, it was believed that we had already created “A2/AD zones” in Kaliningrad, Crimea, near St. Petersburg, Murmansk, Yerevan and in Syrian Tartus. But all this is in the northwestern, western and southwest 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 Russian nuclear missile cruiser base will become deep in echelon. And it will not be possible to get close to the peninsula with impunity.

Matua is a small island located in the very center of the Kuril ridge. During the Great Patriotic War, the Japanese turned it into impregnable fortress, planning to use it as a springboard in case of war with the USSR.

The Russian Ministry of Defense is taking unprecedented measures to develop military infrastructure in Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. An expedition of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and the Russian Geographical Society (RGS) began engineering work to study fortifications on the Kuril island of Matua. This was announced by the head of the press service of the Eastern Military District, Colonel Alexander Gordeev.

“On the slopes of the hills and at the foot of the Sarychev volcano, the liberation of poternas (underground corridors for communication between fortifications, fortresses or strongholds of fortified areas) and warehouses from rubble has begun,” Gordeev said. -Five groups of search engines “carry out excavation work using a bulldozer, excavator and other special equipment.”

According to the participants of the military-historical expedition, conducting scientific research will help find answers to many questions and “dispel the aura of mystery of the island of Matua.” Before starting work, air samples are taken from each fortification structure and carefully analyzed in the laboratory for the presence of toxic substances.

Until the end of World War II, Japan was actively developing these islands, including the mysterious island of Matua, located in the center of the Kuril ridge. On this island, Japan mined some valuable minerals. After the end of World War II, Truman even approached Stalin with a request to transfer the island of Matua to the United States. We didn’t give away the island, but for some reason we don’t use its dungeons themselves.

During World War II, Allied aircraft, which bombed everything that belonged to Japan in the Pacific Ocean, bypassed Magua. And when the war ended, President Truman turned to Stalin with an unexpected request to give the United States only one of the islands in the center of the Kuril Islands, occupied by Soviet troops. Why did the small island of Matua so attract the President of America?

Matua is a small island located in the very center of the Kuril ridge. During the Great Patriotic War, the Japanese turned it into an impregnable fortress, planning to use it as a springboard in case of war with the USSR. The war did begin, but in 1945, 3,811 Japanese soldiers and officers “valiantly” surrendered to 40 Soviet border guards.

The island, which went to the USSR, was dug up and down with ditches, trenches and artificial caves. Numerous pillboxes and hangars were built conscientiously. The entire perimeter of the Matua coast was cordoned off by a dense ring of pillboxes made of stone or carved into the rock. They were made so well that members of amateur expeditions who have been studying the island for many years claim that even today the pillboxes could be used for their intended purpose. Moreover, their arrangement was not limited to just preparing a point for firing. Each such position had an extensive network of underground passages, also carved into the rock.

The island's airfield was constructed even more carefully. It is located so well and made so technically competent that planes could take off and land in winds of any strength and direction. Japanese engineers also provided an “anti-snow” design. Pipes were laid under the concrete covering, into which hot water flowed from thermal springs. So there was no threat of icing on the runway for the Japanese pilots, and the planes could take off and land in both winter and summer.

In one of the coastal rocks, the hardworking Japanese carved out a huge cave where a submarine could easily hide. Nearby was the underground residence of the garrison command, camouflaged in one of the surrounding hills. Its walls were neatly lined with stone, and there is a swimming pool and an underground bathhouse nearby.

One of the secrets of the island is the disappearance of all military equipment without a trace. Despite extensive searches that have been going on since 1945, nothing has been found on the island. Moreover, there is an amazing, downright mystical pattern - people who tried to search died in fires, which often happened on the island, and fell into avalanches.

In the late 1990s, the deputy head of the border post who led the search died in an accident. And when they tried to restore the destroyed communications, the volcano located in the center of the island suddenly woke up. The eruption occurred with such force that those flying out of the crater huge boulders shot down birds hovering hundreds of meters from the crater!

Here is an opinion about the unsolved mysteries of the island of Matua by enthusiastic researcher Evgeniy Vereshchagi: “There is an extraordinary hill on Matua, more than 120 meters high and 500 meters in diameter.

Nature does not like such regular forms. This involuntarily leads one to think that this whole enormous thing was made by human hands. This is an artificial hill that served as a camouflaged hangar for aircraft. A very wide man-made depression, overgrown with trees and bushes, clearly stands out on its slope. Probably, there was a gate to the hangar here, which was first blown up and then covered with the ash of an erupting volcano.

In addition, hundreds of rusty fuel barrels are scattered on the island - mostly German, and absolutely intact and with fuel from the times of the fascist Third Reich. Translated, the markings on them read “Wehrmacht fuel, 200 liters.” And the dates - 1939, 1943 - right up to the victorious year of 1945.

So, having gone around Earth, Hitler's allied submarines moored at Matua and delivered cargo!?

By the way, about the volcano. There were many questions about where the military equipment disappeared, with which, judging by the underground structures, the island-fortress was literally stuffed. One of the participants in the amateur expeditions made a seemingly incredible assumption: “Perhaps the Japanese dumped all their ammunition into the mouth of the volcano, and then blew it up, causing a powerful eruption. This version, at first glance, sounds like science fiction. But a road was built up the cone of the volcano, where even decades later traces of tracked vehicles can be discerned. One can only guess what the Japanese carried along it.”

But all these conspicuous grandiose structures are only the outer, visible part of the Japanese secret underground fortress. More than half a century has passed since the end of World War II, but no one has managed to unravel the secrets of the dungeons.

The Japanese, citing the secrecy of this information, stubbornly did not respond to requests from first Soviet and then Russian researchers of the island of Matua. It was also impossible to understand the strange interest in the island of the American president.

What does the Kuril Island hide in its depths? What if the death of military explorers of the island, and the volcano awakening at the wrong time, and the American president’s interest in Matua, and the Japanese refusal to provide materials are not a random chain of events? Maybe in the secret, yet to be found dungeons of the fortress island, there are hidden not rusted military equipment that no one needs today, but secret laboratories that developed secret weapons that were never used during the war?

At dawn on August 12, 1945, three days before Japan announced its surrender, a deafening explosion was heard in the Sea of Japan, not far from the Korean Peninsula. A fireball approximately 1000 meters in diameter rose into the sky. Following him, a giant mushroom cloud appeared. According to American expert Charles Stone, the first and last atomic bomb Japan, and the power of the explosion was about the same as that of American bombs detonated a few days earlier over Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

C. Stone's statement that during World War II Japan worked to create an atomic bomb and achieved success was met with great doubts by many US scientists. Military historian John Dower treated this information more cautiously.

According to this famous scientist, it is impossible to completely exclude the possibility that at dawn on August 12, 1945, Japan’s first and last atomic bomb was detonated in the Sea of Japan off the coast of Korea. Evidence of this can be found in the huge secret military complex of Hungnam, located on the territory of modern North Korea. It was powerful enough and equipped with everything necessary to produce an atomic bomb.

The plausibility of Charles Stone's unexpected hypothesis is confirmed by the research of former American intelligence officer Theodore McNally. At the end of World War II, he served in the analytical intelligence staff of the Allied commander at Pacific Ocean General MacArthur.

In his article, McNally writes that American intelligence had reliable information about a large Japanese nuclear center in the Korean city of Hungnam, but kept information about this facility secret from the USSR. Moreover, on the morning of August 14, 1945, American planes brought to their airfields air samples taken over the Sea of Japan near east coast Korean Peninsula. Processing of the samples obtained gave stunning results. She testified that in the above-mentioned area Sea of Japan On the night of August 12-13, an unknown nuclear device exploded!

If we assume that in underground city On the island-fortress, the development of the most terrible weapon of the 20th century - nuclear - actually took place, this provides an answer to many questions that baffle the organizers of amateur research expeditions.

Why did President Truman, turning to Stalin, ask to transfer the island of Matua to the United States?

Even before the end of World War II, the Americans began to prepare for an armed conflict with the USSR. After the declassification of materials about the Second World War, a folder with the inscription “Unthinkable Operation” was found in a British archive. Indeed, no one could have imagined such an operation! The date on the document is May 22, 1945. Consequently, the development of the operation began even before the end of the war. The document outlined in the most detailed way the plan... for a massive strike on Soviet troops!

The main trump card in a military clash could be nuclear weapons, available only to the United States. Soviet tank divisions that went through the Second world war, were located in the center of Europe. If Stalin had received, in addition to his superiority in ground forces, nuclear weapons created by Japanese scientists, then in the event of a military clash, the outcome of the war would have been a foregone conclusion and Europe would have become completely socialist.

Why do the Japanese, citing the secrecy of information, stubbornly refuse to respond to requests from first Soviet and then Russian researchers on the island of Matua?

But what should they do?

If an underground secret center were discovered on the island of Matua in which nuclear weapons were developed, and not only developed, but also the technology for their production was brought to practical implementation, then this would lead to a reassessment of the events of World War II. The atomic bombing of Japanese cities would have been justified: American pilots were simply ahead of future Japanese atomic raids. Demands for the return of the Southern Kuril Islands could be seen as a desire to continue work on creating secret weapons, which stopped as a result of the defeat of Japan.

And that's it mysterious island, The Russian Pacific Fleet has launched unprecedented research.

A representative of the Eastern Military District recalled that “mobile airfield complexes have already been deployed on the island to support flights aircraft" The drainage system has been cleared and preparations for landing helicopters of any type have been completed.

The personnel of the military-historical expedition continue to actively work in Dvoynaya Bay in order to “prepare the coastal section of the island for the approach of a large landing ship to the shore in a “point-to-point” manner for loading equipment and materiel,” Gordeev said.

As previously reported, 200 members of the expedition of the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Russian Geographical Society, the Eastern Military District and the Pacific Fleet under the leadership of Deputy Commander of the Pacific Fleet Vice Admiral Andrei Ryabukhin on six ships and vessels left Vladivostok on May 7 and arrived on the island of Matua on May 14.

Reveal all secrets Kuril Island 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, one of Japan's largest naval bases 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, which are heated by 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 aquatic organisms, 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 in the region. Norov at Sarychev Peak is steep - you can’t call him sleeping. Eruptions, although short-lived, are frequent and violent.

Despite all the natural disasters, during the Second World War the Japanese 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 the Sea of Okhotsk to the 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 the 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, 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 there is an underground city on Matua, 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 head 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 of them 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. Of course, the main question is: 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.

A detachment of the Pacific Fleet, including the large landing ship "Admiral Nevelskoy", the pick-up vessel KIL-168 and the rescue tug "SB-522", delivered to the Kuril Island of Matua members of a joint expedition of the Russian Ministry of Defense and the Russian Geographical Society, as well as more than 30 units of various technology.

Matua Island is located in the middle part of the Kuril ridge and is significantly removed from populated areas Sakhalin and Kamchatka. The size of the island is 11 kilometers long and 6 and a half wide. It is characterized by an abnormally cold climate with big amount precipitation. Matua is home to one of the most active active volcanoes in the region - Sarycheva Volcano. A powerful layer of historical and cultural heritage has been preserved here, which is divided into Ainu, Japanese and Russian. In addition, on Matua there is the northernmost point of distribution of Corded Ware - the Neolithic archaeological culture "Jōmon".

This year, the scientific composition of the expedition has expanded significantly. Hydrogeologists, volcanologists, hydrobiologists, landscape scientists, soil scientists, submariners, searchers and archaeologists from Vladivostok and Moscow, Kamchatka and Sakhalin will work on the island of Matua. The Expeditionary Center of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Russian Geographical Society and the personnel of the Pacific Fleet are taking part in the project.

During the work, materials will be collected to prepare an atlas identifying marine life in the waters of Matua Island and neighboring islands, as well as video recording of the bottom topography at dive sites will be carried out to analyze hydrographic characteristics.

The activity of the Sarychev Peak volcano over the past 100 thousand years will be reconstructed, and the level of its modern activity will be determined. This is necessary to assess the volcanic hazard of the territory and formulate a long-term forecast.

In addition, work will continue to search and study objects of historical military equipment and fortifications from the Second World War. Archaeological work to identify and study historical and cultural monuments of various eras, including the Ainu era, will be developed.

Based on the results of the 2017 expedition, materials will be prepared on the prospects for further development of the island: maps of dangerous natural phenomena, analysis of alternative energy sources, chemical composition natural waters, potential soil fertility.

In 2016, the Russian Geographical Society, together with the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, organized an expedition to Matua for the first time. Its goal was to study artifacts of the Second World War and compile a historical and geographical portrait of the island.

The development of the plan for the second expedition to the Matua island of the Kuril ridge has been completed, the researchers will go there in June 2017, said Vladimir Matveev, a representative of the Pacific Fleet.

“At the headquarters of the Pacific Fleet (PF) preparations continue for a research expedition to the island of Matua, which will take place from June to September 2017. Currently, the development of a detailed survey plan for the Kuril Island has been completed, the personnel and necessary equipment for survey work have been determined,” he said.

Matveev recalled that “an expedition of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Russian Geographical Society (RGS) and the Pacific Fleet of 200 people under the leadership of Deputy Commander of the Pacific Fleet Vice Admiral Andrei Ryabukhin conducted large-scale research on the island of Matua in 2016.”

“Specialists have conducted more than a thousand laboratory studies on physical, chemical and biological parameters. More than 200 measurements of the external environment were also made. Radiation and chemical reconnaissance of more than 120 kilometers of the route was carried out, all fortifications of the island and more than 100 historical sites were examined. Divers carried out work on a hydrographic study of the bays and bays of the island,” he specified.

Earlier, Pacific Fleet commander Sergei Avakyants noted that scientific expeditions to the island of Matua had not been carried out since 1813.

“The Japanese began to develop Matua 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,” the commander said.

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

“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. We concluded that the garrison had fulfilled its purpose. main task- removed all traces and all facts that could lead to the disclosure of the true nature of activities on this island,” Avakyants said.

He noted that Toporkovy Island also requires further study, which may be associated with Matua underground tunnels.

“With the permission and on the instructions of the President of the Russian Geographical Society (Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu - ed.), in 2017 we are conducting a second expedition involving a wide range of specialists - the Academy of Sciences, the Russian Geographical Society and Moscow State University. The fauna and flora of this island require further study, volcanic activity, water supply system, underground structures, including underwater. And, in addition, archaeological research is necessary,” the admiral concluded.

Defense aspect of the “mysterious island” of Matua

Recently, mention of small island Matua of the Kuril Ridge has become frequent not only in Russian but also in foreign media. So what is this “ Mysterious Island"So famous?

"Matua" translated from the Ainu language means "Little burning bays." This island is located in the middle part of the Kuril ridge between the islands of Raikoke and Rasshua.

Let us recall that in early May, a scientific expedition departed for the most poorly studied Kuril island of Matua, which included six (!!!) warships of the Pacific Fleet, on board of which more than two hundred people - scientists and specialists, equipped with heavy equipment, underground search equipment, and various materials and equipment.

The expedition was not organized by social activists or semi-underground treasure hunters, which has happened more than once, but for the first time jointly by the Russian Geographical Society (RGS) and the Russian Ministry of Defense itself. Let us also recall that Army General Sergei Shoigu is not only the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, but also the President of the Russian Geographical Society. Agree, this leads to certain thoughts.

“There are many mysteries, a lot of interesting things, the island is mysterious,” the President of the Russian Geographical Society and the Minister of Defense said parting words to the expedition participants, noting that Matua has many fortifications, mines, grottoes, runways, a road leading to the volcano... He did not hide that that the expedition includes speleologists, researchers underwater worlds, military specialists.

“And regarding the military side there are many different mysteries. To this day, no one can answer where it went great amount equipment and ammunition that were prepared to repel Soviet troops. And where did two-thirds of the garrison that was on this island disappear,” recalled Sergei Kuzhugetovich.

This degree of awareness of the highest official of the Russian military department indicates that the situation has been studied and a decision has been made for reconnaissance.

And the expedition is headed by Deputy Commander of the Pacific Fleet (PF), Vice Admiral Andrei Ryabukhin. And this is a direct target designation for “reconnaissance of the area in force.”

The commander of the Eastern Military District (EMD), Colonel General Sergei Surovikin, completely lifted the curtain of secrecy: “The Russian military is considering the possibility of basing the forces of the Pacific Fleet (PF) on the island of Matua in the Kuril ridge,” he said.

1. Matua Island is one of the geological and historical pearls of the Kuril ridge. The island is elongated meridionally in the shape of an oval, convex to the east, slightly concave to the west. The length from northwest to southeast is about 11 km, width 6.4 km, area 52 km2.

Most of the island is occupied by a conical active volcano Fuyo (Sarychev Peak) 1485 m high, constantly smoking and at times throwing out streams of lava flowing from the crater along the northeastern slope.

The volcano received its name in honor of the honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy, Admiral G.A. Sarycheva. This polar explorer was the first to most accurately establish the position of the island of Matua.

Towards the coast they take on the appearance of hills and, increasingly descending, turn into a flat sandy coast with two capes; the continuation of the latter are underwater reefs up to 1.8 km long.

The slopes of Mount Fuyo are dissected by hollows, but are mostly covered with stone placers, especially thick at the base.

Approximately a third of the foot of the volcano is occupied by low-growing bushes. They obviously compensate for their dwarf height, no more than a meter, with extraordinary density. The thickets are so thick that you can't get through it.

A strip of alpine meadows begins in the highlands. And even higher - unstable slag and stones. At the top, hydrosolfators abundantly emit jets of water vapor into the air.

The crater, from which sulfur dioxide gases erupt with a hiss and roar, is filled to the brim with lava. On the southeastern side, its walls rise 40 m above its boiling interior. On the eastern side they almost disappear, and in the west they are almost equal to the level of the volcanic crater.

There is a version that on this side part of the crater was deliberately undermined by the Japanese so that during the eruption the lava would flow into the Sea of Okhotsk. Since 1760, at least a dozen volcanic eruptions have been known.

So in 1946, a blast wave of terrifying force threw volcanic bombs through the Dvoynaya Strait (1.6 km) onto Toporkovy Island. The ashes of the eruption reached all the way to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. That year, hot avalanches flowed into the bays, forming three new capes.

On the other side of the island, a giant tsunami wave, penetrating deep into the gentle coast of Ainu Bay, brought and piled up huge tree trunks, washed away a layer of soil and opened the entrances to old half-flooded adits. Similar structures are carved into the rocks all over the island.

The southernmost cape of Matua Island is named Yurlova after the skipper who was part of the Second Kamchatka Expedition and wintered on the island in 1756-1757. True, a typo crept into the maps, and now this place is often called Cape Orlov.

There are no completely closed bays on Matua. If you look at the island on maps or aerial photography, it may seem that there is no good shelter for a ship near the island.

In practice, it is convenient and relatively safe place There is. This is a strait in the southwestern part of the island, covered from the west by the small island of Iwaki (Toporkovy). It was here that the Japanese raid was located and the berths were located.

Approaches to the islands from the sea are always safe at a distance of up to 0.18 km from the coast. Anchorages are in two bays.

Ainu Bay (Ainuwan) is located in the southwest of the island and serves as a refuge for a few ships in calm weather and easterly winds. Depth 14-25 m; the soil is sandy. Landing is convenient on the sandy shore near the mouth of the Jesupo River.

Yamato Bay (Yamoto). Located between the islands of Matsuwa and Iwaki. The best of all the bays in the ridge. The bridge connecting the islands divides it into two parts. You can go from one bay to another along the hollow near the island. Iwaki, 9 m deep.

The soil in both parts of the bay is sandy. Depending on the winds, you can use either the north or southern parts bays

Despite the proximity of a very restless and formidable volcanic “neighbor”, the Ainu from time immemorial built their homes on Matua, which were located on the banks of the only fresh stream. The last Ainu families were resettled by the Japanese to Shikotan at the beginning of the 20th century.

After the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, according to the Treaty of Portsum, the islands of the Kuril chain and half of Sakhalin were ceded to Japan. The Japanese have long had their eye on the island of Matua because of its favorable middle - geographical location, non-foggy climate and convenient anchorage for vessels of various types.

They equipped fishing camps, a fur farming station and a marine reserve on Matua. Then a guard post, a weather station, and a Shinto shrine were built here.

Fortification surprises, military secrets and political mysteries of Matua Island

During the Great Patriotic War, the Japanese turned Matua into a naval fortress - a miracle of fortification art.

The entire coastline of the island along the perimeter was cordoned off by a dense ring of pillboxes made of stone or carved into the rock. They were made so well that members of amateur expeditions who have been studying the island for many years claim that even today the pillboxes could be used for their intended purpose.

Moreover, their design was not limited to just preparing a point for firing. Each such position had an extensive network of underground passages, also carved into the rock.

In one of the coastal rocks, numerous Chinese and Korean prisoners of war carved out a huge cave where a submarine could easily hide. Nearby was the underground residence of the garrison command, camouflaged in one of the surrounding hills. Its walls were neatly lined with stone, and there is a swimming pool and an underground bathhouse nearby.

The island's airfield was built even more carefully.

It is located so well and made so technically competently that planes could take off and land in winds of any strength and direction along three (!!!) take-off and runways(runway) up to 85 meters wide and up to 1850 m long.

Japanese engineers also provided an “anti-icing” design. Pipes were laid under the concrete covering, which supplied hot water from thermal springs. So icing runway Japanese pilots were not in danger, and planes could take off and land in both winter and summer.

Most of the fortification work is carefully disguised and still is. Here is the personal opinion of researcher-enthusiast Evgeniy Vereshchagi: “There is an extraordinary hill on Matua, more than 120 meters high and 500 meters in diameter. Nature does not like such regular shapes. This involuntarily leads one to think that this whole enormous thing was made by human hands.

This is an artificial hill that served as a camouflaged hangar for aircraft. A very wide man-made depression, overgrown with trees and bushes, clearly stands out on its slope. Probably, there was a gate to the hangar here, which was first blown up and then covered with the ash of an erupting volcano.”

But these conspicuous or camouflaged grandiose structures are only the outer, visible part of the Japanese secret underground fortress. More than 70 years have passed since the end of World War II, but no one has managed to unravel the secrets of the dungeons.

The Japanese, citing the secrecy of this information, stubbornly did not respond to requests from first Soviet and then Russian researchers of the island of Matua.

According to its fortification data, the military - sea fortress Matua is theoretically and practically impregnable. Take the author’s word for it - he is a fortification officer by military education.

However, on August 26, 1945, 3,795 Japanese soldiers and officers “valiantly” surrendered to 40 Soviet border guards.

But the trophies amounted to only 2127 rifles, 81 light machine guns, 464 heavy machine guns and 98 grenade launchers, which is clearly not a lot. Moreover, among the listed trophies taken on Matua, there were no artillery pieces, anti-aircraft guns and tanks.

Why? Where are the food supplies, supplies of uniforms and communications equipment for the garrison. Where did about 10,000 Chinese and Korean prisoners of war disappear?

In fact, there are many questions in the history of the landing of Soviet troops on Matua. One of the participants in the amateur expeditions made a seemingly incredible assumption: “Perhaps the Japanese dumped all their ammunition and prisoners into the mouth of the volcano, and then blew it up, causing a powerful eruption.”

This version, at first glance, sounds like science fiction. But a road was built up the cone of the volcano, where even decades later traces of tracked vehicles can be discerned. One can only guess what the Japanese carried along it.

And here's another thing. At the Potsdam Conference in 1945, US President Harry Truman, out of nowhere, turned to Stalin with an unexpected request to provide the United States with only one of the islands in the center of the Kuril Islands, which should be occupied by Soviet troops - Matua.

“You don’t mind anything for your friends!” - answered the Generalissimo. But as an “allaverdi” he asked for one of the Aleutian Islands.

Why did the small island of Matua so attract the President of America? The answer to this may be to look for in the secrets of the development and mastery of nuclear weapons by the USA, USSR, Germany and Japan. Yes, yes, and Japan.

According to American expert Charles Stone, Japan's first and last atomic bomb was detonated here, and the power of the explosion was approximately the same as that of the American bombs detonated a few days earlier over Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The plausibility of Charles Stone's unexpected hypothesis is confirmed by the research of former American intelligence officer Theodore McNally. At the end of World War II, he served on the analytical intelligence staff of the Allied commander in the Pacific, General MacArthur.

In his article, McNally writes that American intelligence had reliable information about the development of the Japanese nuclear weapons on one of the islands of the Kuril chain (Matua?) and about a large Japanese nuclear center in the Korean city of Hungnam, but kept information about these objects secret from the USSR.

Moreover, on the morning of August 14, 1945, American planes brought to their airfields air samples taken over the Sea of Japan near the eastern coast of the Korean Peninsula. Processing of the samples obtained gave stunning results. It showed that in the above-mentioned area of the Sea of Japan, on the night of August 12-13, an explosion of an unknown nuclear device occurred!

If we assume that in the underground city on the island-fortress of Matua, the development of the most terrible weapon of the 20th century - nuclear - actually took place, then this answers many questions that perplex the organizers of amateur research expeditions.

Maybe the American president’s interest in Matua, the volcano that woke up at the wrong time, and the Japanese refusal to provide materials are not a random chain of events? And maybe in the secret, yet to be found dungeons of the fortress island, there are hidden not only rusted military equipment that no one needs today, but also secret laboratories that developed secret weapons that were never used during the war?

You will say - fiction. Then please pay attention to the latest facts. Before the said expedition had time to set off for the Great Kuril Ridge, the Prime Minister of Japan suddenly hurried off...

Not to Washington at all, but to Sochi, to Russian President Vladimir Putin, ignoring the persistent recommendations of his “big brother” - the US President - to refrain from such a step. The details of this high meeting remained a “closed secret.” I don’t think this is a coincidence of facts and events. Otherwise, time will tell.

Better late than never

The solution to the surprises, secrets and mysteries of the island of Matua has yet to be discovered by its researchers. Ships of the Pacific Fleet are taking part in today’s expedition: the large landing ship Admiral Nevelskoy and the kill ship KIL-168.

On board are representatives of the Ministry of Defense, the Eastern Military District and the Pacific Fleet, as well as the Russian Geographical Society, Moscow specialists in the field of soil science, geomorphology, paleogeography and other sciences.

“The Japanese created an impressive number of anti-landing defense facilities on Matua and erected numerous long-term firing points,” said one of the expedition members, Igor Samarin. “Our task is to find them, describe them, put them on the map. I have already been to Matua twice, doing this work. But there are still so many unexplored objects there, enough for more than one such expedition.”

In addition to scientific tasks, the military leadership is considering the possibility of a future basing of the Pacific Fleet forces there. In the meantime, all the infrastructure necessary to support the livelihoods of the expedition members has been deployed on the island.

The military forces of the Eastern Military District have already equipped a field camp on Matua, organized water and electricity supplies, created a communications center and a logistics support point. One of the tasks that was announced was to assess the condition of the local airfield.

The expedition is settling in on the island. Matua, May 2016...

The headquarters of the Eastern Military District (VVO) notes that the airfield runways are well preserved. “Their favorable location, taking into account the wind rose and local climate in those years, ensured landing and takeoff aircraft at any time,” the BVO press service informed.

“The airfield on the island of Matua in the Kuril ridge will eventually become a full-fledged aviation base of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS),” says Army General Pyotr Deinekin, ex-commander-in-chief of the Russian Air Force.

P. Deinekin noted that one of the important criteria for assessing the air power of a state is ground infrastructure. “In military affairs there is such a thing as operational basing density. When there is a large number of aircraft at one airfield, it can be disabled in one missile strike or enemy air raid. And so that the aviation pogrom of 1941 does not repeat itself, our airfield network is expanding.”

The scientific and survey expedition of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and the Russian Geographical Society (RGS) has begun engineering work to restore the airfield on the island of Matua in the center Kuril ridge, reports the Russian Ministry of Defense.

The runway was inspected, mobile airfield complexes and flight support equipment were prepared and deployed, the airfield drainage system was cleared, and the equipment of the landing site for helicopters of all types was completed.

The airfield has three runways more than 1200 m long and 85 m wide with concrete and asphalt pavement.

“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 ensure that this airfield turns into an aviation base,” said P. Deinekin.

Headquarters Pacific Fleet(TOF) informs that an expedition of the Ministry of Defense and the Russian Geographical Society has begun engineering work on the island of Matua to restore the berth structures of the island of Matua, and is also exploring fortifications from the Second World War.

The primary task is to prepare the coastal section of the island in Dvoynaya Bay for the large landing ship "Admiral Nevelskoy" to approach the shore using the "point-to-point" method for carrying out full loading and unloading operations.

In addition, specialists have already begun examining previously discovered underground fortifications.

An active search is also underway for entry points into underground communications and transitions between structures.

Conclusion

Naturally, this is only part of the information collected by the expedition that is open to the public.

Even more than 70 years after the liberation of Matua, more questions arise on the island than there are answers to.

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