The Belgian diving club Divemonkey has a history of diving in remote locations. Jérémy Ransy, head of Divemonkey, organized diving expeditions to Antarctica, Fiji, the Marshall Islands, and beyond. Aslan Bek, one of the club divers, told them about the region of Chechnya, known for its lakes with high water clarity, planting the seed for an expedition to this distant area.

Diving in this region is virtually unheard of. There are no diving centers, and the team had to organize every single piece of diving equipment, including compressors and oxygen and helium. Much of it was purchased in Russia and sent from all over the country to Chechnya. Bureaucracy and the need for permits also proved to be a huge challenge, and the diving team spent 6 months preparing for diving in such a remote part of the world.

Reaching the first target, Lake Kazenoy-am, located on the border of Dagestan and Chechnya at an altitude of 1870 m, required a four-hour off-road drive with all the equipment weighing 1.5 tons.

After several days of preparing, configuring equipment, and mixing gases, the first dives were undertaken, resulting in the discovery of the lake's greatest depth, plunging to 75 meters. The research and measurements revealed a new topographical image of the lake. A four-hour decompression dive also revealed a huge variety of fauna and flora, including the famous "fighting trout" mentioned in sources gathered during the expedition's preparation.

To reach the next planned destination, Lake Galaynchoj-Am, the team had to cover over 60 km in all-terrain vehicles along a road that had recently been blown up, amidst complete wilderness. Upon arrival, they were greeted by Chechen special forces, armed to the teeth, who additionally informed the team members of a real threat from… bears. After an integration session of the team and hosts at a barbecue, the following days were devoted to mapping the lake, reaching a maximum depth of 35 meters and studying the lake's fauna and flora.

Unfortunately, a breakdown in the weather and torrential rains made it impossible to reach the third planned exploration site, but considering the course of the expedition so far, the team was satisfied with the results and happy that they managed to avoid incidents related to bears.