“They spat out blood”

A video appeared online showing a man partially dressed in a military uniform telling the details of Operation Stream (also known as Operation Pipe). The video was posted on the telegram channel “Northern Channel”. Earlier, CIT analysts expressed suspicion that the channel may be related to the Ukrainian CIPsO. Nevertheless, ASTRA identified the man in the video — he turned out to be a resident of St. Petersburg — and talked to him.

In the video, the man says that Operation Stream in the Kursk region was carried out with complete disregard for the health and safety of military personnel: dozens of soldiers suffocated, committed suicide or died in panic and delirium, trying to get out of the pipe. At some point, he simply could not go on and his colleagues left him halfway, from where he was already crawling and barely got out.

“People were going crazy there. One shot himself. One… pointed a machine gun at himself. The second one broke his head. The third one crashed into the wall. The panic started,” says the man.

He also admitted that in addition to being cramped and constantly lacking oxygen, the soldiers also had difficulty evacuating the corpses of their comrades: there was simply no room for such maneuvers in the pipe. There were also problems with the delivery of water, which, according to the man, was eventually taken from the military by the soldiers of the Akhmat unit.

“Akhmat took it. They shot for it. They fought for the water,” the hero of the video describes military everyday life.

The man in the video is Igor Garus from St. Petersburg. In a conversation with ASTRA, he refused to name the part to which he is attached, but confirmed the confessions voiced earlier in the video.

“Everything in the video is true. I can’t comment. I am a simple soldier. In order to comment and make statements, ask Ministry of Defense. It was a personal conversation, not an interview… I think they’ll fix everything, we’ll handle everything. We are waiting for the victory,” said Garus to ASTRA.

Although the cameraman addresses Igor at the end of the published video with the words “Smile, you’ve become a star,” the military man himself claims that this conversation was not intended for publication and does not know how the video could have ended up online.

Operation Stream (or “Pipe”) is a raid by the Russian military with an exit on March 8, 2025 through a gas pipeline in the Kursk region to penetrate the rear of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Russia said that thanks to the operation, it was possible to disorient the Ukrainian forces and take several settlements. However, many military analysts note that the Ukrainian troops began to retreat in advance due to the threat of encirclement and supply disruptions, and the operation did not play a decisive role. In Russian propaganda, the operation is presented as heroic and unique. Earlier, Z-propagandist Anastasia Kashevarova stated that the military, who received lung cancer as part of this operation, were denied payments and awards.