Watch These Russians Pull a Sunken Vehicle From a Frozen Lake — By Hand!

In this video, a team of Russian men work to retrieve a vehicle that had fallen through the ice of a frozen lake.

What we don’t see is how they originally got a line (rope or cable) attached to the vehicle, because if it wasn’t already connected to the flivver when it broke through, someone got REALLY cold diving down to attach it.

In the first frames of the video, that line is clearly shown going down through the ice. So perhaps it is common practice to drag a long line when driving on a frozen lake so you can come back with your friends to pull it out if it breaks through.

With a windlass built into the ice–pretty much a heavy vertical(ish) cylinder embedded in the ice and turned by means men walking in circles pushing a long pole attached to it–they first pull on some lumber to lever the rear end upward, then pull on the vehicle itself.

That sure is some strong rope or cable that they’re using! It’s skinny, but it does the job just fine. We can see the car slowly emerge from the water using nothing more than simple machines and manpower.

I like it.

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.