Scene from documentary Operation Stream. Source: YouTube/Channel One

Dozens of Russian servicemen who crawled through a gas pipeline near the town of Sudzha, in Russia’s Kursk region, in March either suffocated, committed suicide or died of panic, according to a man thought to have participated in the operation, Telegram news channel ASTRA reported on Tuesday.

ASTRA contacted the man, Igor Garus from St. Petersburg, after video footage of Operation Stream was published by Telegram channel Severny Kanal on Monday. Though a previous analysis by open-source investigative group Conflict Intelligence Team alleged Severny Kanal had ties to Ukraine’s psychological warfare unit, ASTRA nonetheless tracked Garus down to speak to him.

Photo: ASTRA 

There was a lack of oxygen in the pipeline the servicemen were making their way through to get to Sudzha, a town then occupied by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), according to Garus. There were also periods where the servicemen got stuck due to there being so many personnel and so much equipment in the pipeline.

Garus said that several soldiers had suffocated, while others committed suicide. He also stated that there were soldiers who died of panic as they tried to get out of the pipe. He said he didn’t reach the end of the pipe himself, adding that it was difficult to evacuate the dead as there was so little room for manoeuvre. He said Chechen Akhmat special forces had literally fought over the water being distributed in the pipe.

“People were going crazy. There was no oxygen, you were inhaling gas, you were hungry. One guy shot himself. … Another guy smashed his head open. … There was panic,” Garus said, according to ASTRA.

Garus refused to tell ASTRA which unit he belonged to, but corroborated the claims from the video, which he said was not intended for publication.

In March, the Russian authorities revealed that servicemen had passed through the Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhhorod pipeline to reach the town of Sudzha and attack AFU positions as part of Operation Stream. The Russian Defence Ministry announced the recapture of the town within days.