Later in the trip, we pass a point where three trucks broke through in December. One driver died a nightmarish death beneath the ice. Ruslan tells the story:

There were three trucks in convoy, with 100-200 meters between them. At some point, the second driver lost sight of the first truck. He didn't get what was happening. When he saw the steam [from the first truck after it broke through the ice], he hit the brakes. The first truck had sunk through nine meters of water; the old man [the driver] drowned. The second driver slammed on the brakes, trying to stop, but he also fell through the ice. It's minus-45 degrees Celsius. The guy is very young, 23 years old. He has a hammer in the cabin, so he smashes the window and gets out of the water and sees the third truck coming. All wet, he walks 50 meters in minus-45 degrees, [his clothes] freezing hard as he walks, struggling to wave down the third driver. It takes the third driver some time to understand these signs. He skids and falls halfway into the water. The cabin is up, though, and the third driver jumps out. They set out on foot for Belaya Gora, which is 25 kilometers away, but luckily they were picked up by a guy on a snowmobile. The young fellow was severely frostbitten.