Russia Installs Replica Pipe From “Operation Potok” Near Cathedral in Omsk Region

A replica of the pipeline used by Russian troops to enter the Russian border town of Sudzha during “Operation Potok ” has been installed near a cathedral in the Russian Omsk region , Russian media outlet Verstka reported on May 2.

The monument, unveiled in the town of Isilkul, a small town in Russia’s Omsk region, marks at least the third such installation commemorating the operation in the Kursk region.

The ceremony took place on April 23, the third day after Orthodox Easter, known as Bright Wednesday. The unveiling was led by Metropolitan Dionysius of Omsk, who traveled to Isilkul for the event.

The black metal pipe was placed adjacent to the city’s cathedral and was donated by the Omsk branch of Gazprom Transgaz Tomsk. According to a statement on the Omsk Russian regional church website, the installation “will remind the residents of Isilkul and the city’s guests of the courage and valor of the Defenders of our Fatherland.”

A temporary field church, designed to resemble an army tent, was set up for the occasion. The event included religious services and public festivities. Photographs published by the diocese show some participants walking through the pipe itself.

The first monument replicating the Sudzha pipeline appeared in Yekaterinburg, a major city in central Russia, in late March. A second installation was placed in central Kursk in early April.

At the Isilkul ceremony, two individuals identified by their call signs “Mezen” and “Tatarin” were present. Both are reported to have participated in Operation Potok and previously led a “lesson in courage” at a local school.

According to Verstka, “Tatarin” served as the commander of a separate assault unit in the 30th Motorized Rifle Regiment, while “Mezen” was a medic with the BARS-13 volunteer detachment.

State media has portrayed Operation Potok as a heroic effort. However, multiple Russian servicemen involved in the operation were later hospitalized with methane poisoning, burns, and other serious injuries.

Earlier, it was reported, that the majority of Russian special forces operatives from the Kremlin-backed “Akhmat ” unit are recovering in military hospitals after suffering serious lung damage during a high-profile mission in Ukraine’s controlled parts of the Kursk region, according to Russian state media outlet TASS on April 28.

According to official accounts, the soldiers crawled nearly 15 kilometers through an unused gas pipeline to infiltrate the town of Sudzha in the Kursk region and drive out Ukrainian forces.

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