Beginning of 1943, Leningradites experienced the second winter of the siege. In order to restore land communication with Leningrad the Soviet command was preparing an operation "Spark". Scheduling of operations and the breakthrough would have been impossible without the active work of the division and regimental artillery and aerial reconnaissance. It became one of the scouts missions to break the blockade. Everyone could not become a scout. Volunteer training lasted from weeks to months, and only after that they went on a mission. To oversee the defense of the enemy, the forefront of infantry units were equipped with a network of observation points, where scouts watched the terrain shifts, recording every detail. Before the advent of reconnaissance mission came the order to get information on the German defenses in the hallway on a plot of 12 km, called "bottle neck".