Ukrainian troops infiltrate Russian positions through gas pipeline near Kupiansk

Ukrainian forces have launched an underground mission near Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region, according to Euronews and Yahoo News Singapore. Codenamed Operation Veles, soldiers traveled over 15 kilometers through underground gas pipeline infrastructure beneath the battlefield in northeastern Ukraine to reach Russian lines. Euronews reported that the operation turned a tactic previously utilized by Russian troops against them. [1][7]

The underground assault resulted in significant Russian casualties. Report shelter.in.ua stated that more than 100 Russian troops were killed in the Kupiansk sector during Operation Veles. Following the mission, Russian forces attempted to push a village north of Kupiansk into a no-man's-land after experiencing heavy losses, according to Euromaidan Press. Hromadske reported that Ukrainian forces also severed a Russian underground infiltration route leading to Kupiansk. [8][9][10]

The operation mirrored past tactics seen in the Russo-Ukrainian war. Russian forces previously executed Operation Stream by crawling through the disused Urengoy to Pomary to Uzhhorod pipeline to attack Ukrainian units near Sudzha. As FTMQ News reported earlier, Ukrainian forces have also been conducting offensive actions elsewhere along the front, including reclaiming territory near Lyman under Operation Vivaldi. [12][14]