Matua Island September. Will the Kuril Island of Matua become a new base for the Russian Pacific Fleet. The defensive hypostasis of the "mysterious island" of Matua

The other day on a tiny desert island Matua Kurilskaya 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 arrived to the island from Vladivostok under the command of Vice Admiral Andrey Ryabukhin, Deputy Commander of the Pacific Fleet. As part of the detachment of the large landing craft "Admiral Nevelskoy", the killer KIL-168 and the rescue tug SB-522. There are about a hundred researchers and 30 units of engineering equipment on board to ensure various work.

Exactly a year ago, the first such expedition on the same Admiral Nevelsky already visited Matua. And it was also led by Vice Admiral Ryabukhin. More than 1000 laboratory studies on physical, chemical and biological indicators were carried out by specialists, more than 200 measurements of the external environment were made, and radiation and chemical reconnaissance was carried out. Divers explored both tiny bays of this piece of land - Ainu (maximum depths up to 25 meters) and Yamato (depths up to 9 meters). During the Second World War, it was through them that the supply of the seven thousandth Japanese garrison on Matua was carried out, on which the largest and well-equipped military base of the imperial army was located. Most of its defensive structures were carved into the surrounding rocks and served as a reliable shelter for personnel and ammunition.

But the main thing on the island was not numerous artillery pillboxes and underground tunnels. Of primary importance was the largest military airfield at that time, which allowed the Japanese from these places to control 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 runways (GRP) concreted and heated by thermal underground sources, each 1200 meters long, made the airfield practically all-weather. However, in 1945, the Japanese 41st separate mixed regiment defending here (numbering three thousand soldiers and officers, the rest of the garrison had already been evacuated by that time) surrendered to the Soviet paratroopers without firing a shot.

Despite the fact that after the Second World War the island remained almost deserted and the Soviet authorities almost never used it, as it turned out, that airfield is still in good condition today. In any case, Russian military helicopters have been landing on it since the summer of 2016. Is the island's airfield capable of accommodating planes after minor restoration work? And if so, what types? This was also found out last year by the expedition of Vice Admiral Ryabukhin.

The purpose of such an unprecedented activity of sailors from the Far East is not a secret. For the first time, it was announced in May 2016 at the military council of the Eastern Military District Colonel General Sergei Surovikin: the possibility of locating a new Pacific Fleet base on the island is being studied. Moreover, on June 29, when the work of the first expedition was still in full swing, an unnamed source in the RF Ministry of Defense told RIA Novosti that construction of base facilities on Matua will start at a frantic pace - by the end of 2016. However, contrary to these plans, so far nothing has happened there. Why?

It is known about at least one unexpected problem that the Pacific Fleet command faced: fresh water. When the Japanese garrison was stationed here, there was clearly plenty of water on Matua. This is evidenced by huge concrete reservoirs preserved in the rocks. As well as an extensive network of ceramic pipes, which stretches from them to the defensive structures. While the pipes, of course, are empty. To date, our engineers have not figured out how to refill the ingenious Japanese water supply. According to Vice Admiral Ryabukhin, "we still do not understand exactly what flowed in and where and where it flowed from." In the meantime, this is a secret, construction on Matua cannot be started. Tankers and aquarius ships cannot satisfy her needs for life-giving moisture.

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

What can be said for sure today is that there can only be temporary moorings for warships and auxiliary vessels. The reasons are not only that the Ainu and Yamato bays are too open by nature and not sufficiently protected from ocean winds and storms. Although in the sailing directions they are designated 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 over the past century have occurred four times, in 1928, 1930, 1946, 1976, one eruption occurred in 2009. Then two streams of red-hot lava slid into the ocean, solidified and increased the area of the island by one and a half square kilometers at once. Not without reason, in the language of the Ainu people who once lived in these parts, Matua is “a small burning bay”.

But the volcano is not the only problem for Matua. This is an area of high seismic activity. Regular powerful earthquakes cause devastating tsunamis. For example, the most powerful earthquake in the history of the modern Kuriles, the Simushir earthquake, which occurred on November 15, 2006, hit the island giant wave, sometimes reaching a height of 20 meters. Which, apparently, is comparable to the consequences of a nearby underwater nuclear explosion. What would be left in this case of the moorings and our ships on Matua?

Thus, we are unlikely to build a new ship-based station for the Pacific Fleet on Matua. Then in the name of what fuss? Restore the military airfield? Given the three wonderful runways built by the Japanese, their return to life, obviously, will not require much effort. But the length of each, as was said, is 1200 meters, the width is 80 meters. This is more than enough to land even a helicopter regiment. For fighters such as Su-27, Su-35 and MiG-29 - too. But, for example, for heavy Tu-22M3 bombers it will not be enough, the stripes will have to be lengthened almost twice. But after all, it is precisely in the landing of the Russian Long-Range Aviation here that the majority of Russian military experts see the main point of the new military base on Matua. Because in this case, the Pacific coast of the United States will be within the reach of our heavy bombers. This means that not only the "strategists" Tu-95MS and Tu-160 will be able to fly out to patrol the "state" lines. The circle of potential threats to the Americans from Russia will be much wider.

Full of optimism about this. Former Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force General of the Army Pyotr Deinekin: “As for the airfield on Matua, it is currently too small to support heavy aircraft flights. But in the future, everything will be done to turn this airfield into an air base.”

The only question is, will the terrain allow it? After all, at least one runway for the Tu-22M3 will have to be more than doubled - up to 3-3.5 km. With a maximum island length of 11 kilometers and a width of 6.4 kilometers, this can be a problem. Especially when you consider that a significant part of the territory is occupied by the Sarychev volcano. Surely, the expedition of Vice Admiral Ryabukhin is also struggling to solve this problem today.

Meanwhile, even if it is not possible to “land” Russian Long-Range Aviation on Matua and the matter is limited only to fighters, there will still be great sense in the new island base. Because the boundaries of our capabilities for air cover of the base of strategic nuclear submarine missile cruisers, including the new Boreys, in Vilyuchinsk (Kamchatka) will also decently move apart.

Indeed, today the task of fighter cover for Kamchatka is mainly assigned to the 865th separate air regiment, which flies on MiG-31 interceptors. The regiment is based at the Yelizovo airfield near Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. And Matua is about 700 kilometers southwest of the aircraft stands of the 865th separate regiment. Accordingly, in this direction, towards the center of the Pacific Ocean, the far boundary of the potential interception of enemy air attack weapons will be shifted by the same amount. The gain in time and space for us in the event of a surprise attack is more than impressive.

Needless to say, the same thing on Matua will most likely be done with anti-ship winged systems. missiles "Bastion", "Ball", as well as anti-aircraft missile systems S-400 "Triumph". Since last year, such weapons have already been deployed in Kamchatka, which immediately provoked an understandable sharp reaction in the United States and Japan. There they started talking with concern that on the peninsula Russia is creating another “A2 / AD restricted access zone,” as such areas are called in the Pentagon.

Until now, it was believed that we have already created “zones A2 / AD” in Kaliningrad, Crimea, near St. Petersburg, Murmansk, Yerevan and in Syrian Tartus. But all this is in the northwestern, western and southwestern directions. Now it's the turn of the Russian Far East. Overseas strategists have to add Kamchatka to the previous list. However, if we manage to quickly turn the island of Matua into a fortress, even the defense of the base of Russian nuclear missile cruisers will become deeply echeloned. And getting close to the peninsula with impunity will not work.

The second expedition of the Ministry of Defense of Russia and the Russian Geographical Society to the island of Matua in the Kuril chain landed today in the bays of Aina and Dvoynaya. A detachment of ships of the Pacific Fleet brought here more than 100 servicemen and civilian specialists and 30 pieces of equipment.

Earlier, the Ministry of Defense announced plans to create a base for the ships of the Pacific Fleet on Matua and restore the airfield. Head of the Russian military department Sergei Shoigu pointed out: "We propose to restore, and not only restore, but also actively exploit this island."

From June to September, the Expeditionary Center of the Ministry of Defense, the Russian Geographical Society and naval sailors plan to map the area, explore the Sarychev Peak volcano, hydrography and coastal bottom topography, and compile an atlas of marine life in the adjacent water area. Hydrogeologists, volcanologists, hydrobiologists, soil scientists, submariners, search engines and archaeologists will work on Matua. Specialists will analyze the chemical composition of natural waters and potential soil fertility. This is an area of high 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 in vain of such keen interest.

strategic importance

The Navy is studying the possibility of creating a ship basing point in the Kuriles. Long-range aviation is also of interest. Two expeditions to Matua are actually a complete cycle of design and survey work that must be completed on the eve of the large-scale construction of a new naval base, more precisely, a logistics center for the Pacific Fleet.

The first expedition explored Matua in May-July 2016. Specialists conducted radiation and chemical reconnaissance, studied fortifications and other historical objects, performed more than a thousand laboratory studies, made hundreds of measurements of the external environment, including 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, to Japanese Hokkaido - 740 kilometers). Administratively. During World War II, it was one of the largest Japanese naval bases. The native 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 installations 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 securely protected by impregnable cliffs and high banks. Not bad are Japanese pillboxes, paved roads, three runways of a military airfield, as well as spacious underground structures of an incomprehensible purpose.

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

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

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 the military-political "containment" of Russia. And Japan claims 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, which is 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 but very effective measure.

The Sea of Okhotsk is being formed in the Kuriles 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 Kuriles line). New capabilities of missile weapons make it possible to create specially protected areas of the sea (anti-access / area-denial), the most favorable for combat patrols of SSBNs - four thousand miles from San Francisco and the positions of American land-based strategic forces in the states of Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota .

The Kuriles and Kamchatka must become an invincible naval fortress of Russia. And for the realization of 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 leave for the Kuril Island of Matua in 2017. This was announced on Wednesday, September 14, by the commander of the Pacific Fleet, Admiral Sergei Avakyants, at a meeting of the media club.

The Japanese began to develop the island from the 1930s and gave it an exclusively military significance. "The island served as a springboard for further expansion and capture of the Kamchatka Peninsula. A unique system of underground structures was created, connected by a single system of tunnels. Underground structures are a separate issue that requires deep study," said Admiral Sergey Avakyants.

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

“Initially, there was an assumption that these were warehouses, but everything was taken out of them. And if these were warehouses, then any material traces would remain. allowed to supply up to 3 thousand volts there. Naturally, this is excess voltage for storage facilities. But, it is obvious that some work was carried out in these facilities, "- quotes the leader of the TASS expedition.

The admiral also said that the same high-voltage cable was found on the slope of the Sarychev volcano. "The volcano is alive, the volcano is still breathing. Powerful eruptions occur every 25 years. Remains of an old road leading to the vent of the volcano have been discovered. Characteristic entrances to underground structures from the water surface are visible from a helicopter. Serious deep-sea studies of the northern and northwestern parts of the volcano are needed ", Avakyants stressed.

He noted that during the expedition, dishes with symbols characteristic of the imperial family - stars were discovered, that is, the island was visited by the highest military-political leadership of Japan during the war, and the garrison was given exceptional attention.

"If on all the islands the Japanese garrisons fought fiercely, to the last soldier, then the island of Matua capitulated last, but capitulated without a fight. The garrison numbered 7.5 thousand people and, which is not typical for the Japanese army, did not show any resistance, "- the commander said. "We concluded that the garrison had fulfilled its main task - to remove all traces and all facts that could lead to the disclosure of the true nature of the activities on this island," he continued.

According to the admiral, the expedition also studied the volcanic activity of the island and discovered the remains of an ancient paleovolcano dating back several million years. "Thus, the version that the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Kuril Islands and the Japanese Islands were a continuous strip of land requires confirmation," Avakyants noted.

The commander of the Pacific Fleet believes that Toporkovy Island, which is presumably connected with Matua, requires further study. underground tunnels. "With the permission and at the direction of the President of the Russian Geographical Society, in 2017 we are conducting a second expedition with the involvement of a wide range of specialists from the Academy of Sciences, the Russian Geographical Society and Moscow State University. The fauna and flora of this island, volcanic activity, water supply system, underground structures, including including underwater ones. And, in addition, it is necessary to conduct archaeological research," the admiral concluded.

The command of the Eastern Military District the possibility of a promising basing of the forces of the Pacific Fleet on the island of Matua.

The Zvezda TV channel made a documentary film Matua Island about the research expedition of the Russian Geographical Society and the Russian Ministry of Defense. Experts went to the island back in 2016 and for many months collected materials about its natural, historical and cultural heritage. Why exactly Matua was interested in the Russian Geographical Society and what secrets the island keeps - in the material "360".

From no man's island to mothballed military base

Matua Island is part of the middle group of the Great Kuril Ridge and belongs to the Sakhalin Region. However, this was not always the case. The original population of Matua is considered to be the Ainu, the most ancient people of the Japanese islands. In his language, the island is called "hell mouth".

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

By 1736, the Ainu converted to Orthodoxy and became Russian subjects, paying the inhabitants of Kamchatka yasak - a tax in kind in the form of furs, livestock and other items. Russian Cossacks regularly visited the island, and the first scientific expedition arrived at Matua in 1813. The population of the island has always been small: in 1831, only 15 inhabitants were counted on Matua, although at that time the census took into account only adult men. In 1855, the Russian Empire officially received the right to the island, but 20 years later Matua was under the rule of Japan - that was the price for Sakhalin.

Shortly before World War II, the island became the main stronghold of the Kuril chain. A fort appeared on Matua with anti-tank ditches, underground tunnels and trenches. An underground residence was created for the officers in the hill. After the outbreak of the war, Nazi Germany supplied fuel to Matua. The island became one of Japan's key naval bases. In August 1945, a garrison of 7.5 thousand people capitulated without firing a shot. Matua passed to the Soviet Union.

Until 1991, there was a military unit on the island. During this time, Matua was interested not only in historians, but also in politicians. US President Harry Truman, immediately after the end of World War II, offered Joseph Stalin to cede the island for a US naval base. Then the leader of the USSR either jokingly or seriously agreed to exchange Matua for one of the Aleutian Islands. Question closed.

The Russian border outpost was on Matua until 2000. Then the entire naval infrastructure of the island was mothballed, and the inhabitants left it. Now Matua is uninhabited. A small island with a length of 11 kilometers and a width of just over six still holds many secrets. Members of the Russian Geographical Society and employees of the Russian Ministry of Defense went to open them.

Secrets of Matua

In September last year, the commander of the Pacific Fleet, Admiral Sergei Avakyants, told reporters about the results of the first expedition to Matua. It started in April and lasted almost six months. The expedition was attended by Defense Minister and President of the Russian Geographical Society Sergei Shoigu.

Research on Matua took place for the first time since 1813. According to Avakyants, many underground structures were discovered on the island. Some of them definitely belonged to the fort, but the purpose of the rest has not yet been clarified.

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

Among the unusual finds is a high-voltage cable on the slope of the Sarychev volcano. Nearby are the remains of an old road that leads to the mouth of the volcano. At the same time, members of the expedition noticed the entrances to underground structures from a helicopter. What exactly is in the thickness of the volcano is still unknown. The experts were also occupied with another question: why the garrison surrendered without a fight in August 1945. This behavior is not typical for Japanese soldiers, which indicates a well-thought-out plan. “We concluded that the garrison had fulfilled its main task - to remove all traces and all facts that could lead to the disclosure of the true nature of activities on this island,” the admiral explained.

Photo: RIA Novosti / Roman Denisov

Last year, the expedition members decided to study the collected materials, and a few months later return to Matua to uncover other secrets of the island. What else will surprise the Russians with a small piece of land that has gone from no man's land to a secret Japanese fort, time will tell.

The second joint expedition of the Ministry of Defense and the Russian Geographical Society to the island of Matua has ended. Its participants - historians, archaeologists, ecologists and hydrographers - spoke at the next meeting of the Russian Geographical Society about their amazing finds discovered on this small but very mysterious island of the Kuril ridge, reports corr. IA SakhalinMedia.

The participants of the second joint expedition of the military and scientists to the Kuril island of Matua summed up their work. At the next meeting of the Sakhalin branch of the Russian Geographical Society, they made presentations in which they told what new secrets the island had revealed to them and what findings gave rise to new questions.

Opened the meeting Chairman of the Russian Geographical Society Sergey Ponomarev. He noted that cooperation with the Pacific Fleet provided new opportunities for studying the Kuril Islands.

“The most expensive part of the expedition is transportation to the Kuril Islands. But the fact that Sergei Shoigu headed the Russian Geographical Society, allowed organizing such joint projects with the Ministry of Defense. The military is also sent to Matua with their research goals. And they take our scientists with them. We use this cooperation to our advantage. Our research concerns history, archeology, ecology. Such versatility helps the complex study of the islands, both on land and in the sea,” Ponomarev said.

Meeting with members of the expedition to Matua. Photo: IA SakhalinMedia

He recalled that Matua is a very interesting island from the point of view of local historians. It is located in the middle of the Kuril ridge and was previously used by the Japanese as a transit point on the route from north to south, as well as a powerful naval base and airfield.

Local historian Igor Samarin during this expedition he continued his last year's work. His main task was to restore the scheme of Japanese long-term firing structures on the island. Last year, such a map was drawn up, but, as it turned out, the island is fraught with many more discoveries.

“This year, quite by accident, our military colleagues discovered a ceramic pipe coming out of the ground. They lowered an impromptu video camera into it - a smartphone with a flashlight, found a room there. At a depth of three meters, there was a concrete structure adjacent to an artillery rangefinder post. It turned out that there was a fire control command post located underground. From there, with the help of electronics, commands were transmitted to the guns, ”said Igor Samarin.

Also one of the tasks of this year was the study of the Japanese command post on one of the heights of the island. Samarin's group dug up this concrete structure and got inside.

But scientists made the most interesting discoveries by studying small, not always obvious details. So, next to one of the soldiers' barracks, we found a lampshade from a lamp. Igor Samarin explains: according to the testimony of the Japanese military themselves of those years, naval sailors lived better than infantry and they were the only ones who had electricity. So the found lampshade reinforced the belief that it was the sailors who lived in the barracks on the island.

“Many ordinary things were revelation. Here we found a beer bottle, the most common, but on the bottom - the date of manufacture “18 S 8”. For a knowledgeable person, this is simple - August 16, according to the European calendar - 1941. 25 such bottles were found on the island. From them it was possible to determine the time when the bottles were delivered to the island. It turned out that the first supply of provisions began in 1938 and ended in 1943. And in 1944, the blockade of the island of Matua by American submarines began,” Samarin continued his report.

Scientists did not disregard the Japanese kitchen heaps near each dugout. Bird bones were found among the waste. As it turned out, the Japanese actively used local puffins for food. They also ate mice - voles. There was even a barter in kind - one mouse was worth two cigarettes. The skins of rodents were transported to the metropolis for the manufacture of gloves from them.

In total, historians brought 86 items from the Japanese and Soviet period from the island - from baby booties and dishes to fuel barrels and handicraft stoves.

Also, scientists managed to uncover another mystery that the Matua Islands have kept since the Second World War. For more than 70 years, the fate of the American submarine Herring, which sank two Japanese ships off Matua, was unknown and conflicting information was preserved about it. Hydrographers led by the captain of a large hydrographic boat, Igor Tikhonov, combed the entire water area of Dvoynaya Bay using a multibeam echo sounder. And an object very similar to a submarine was discovered near Cape Yurlov at a depth of 110 meters. What to do next with this discovery, the military will determine.

As part of the expedition, the researchers also studied a more ancient period in the history of the island. Yes, the group archaeologist Olga Shubina discovered on the island more than a hundred pits from the ancient dwellings of the first inhabitants of the island. Most likely they belonged to the ancient Ainu, who lived here 2.5 - 3 thousand years ago. Scientists conducted excavations at the sites of finds and marked the boundaries of archaeological sites.

At the end of the meeting, the chairman of the Sakhalin Russian Geographical Society, Sergey Ponomarev, announced that scientists had created a working group dealing with the unification of geographical names on the island of Matua.

“Many objects of Matua still bear Japanese names or “folk” Soviet ones. The group is preparing a proposal for the official name of about three dozen bays, capes and heights, so that when drawing up maps and diagrams, we can use the same designations and understand each other,” Ponomarev said.

Matua Island September. Will the Kuril Island of Matua become a new base for the Russian Pacific Fleet. The defensive hypostasis of the "mysterious island" of Matua