They fought firefights inside 1.2-metre-wide gas pipe: Khartiia reveals details of operation near Kupiansk

Ukrainian troops fought firefights inside a gas pipeline approximately 1.2 m in diameter and managed to advance several kilometres through it during Operation Veles on the Kupiansk front.

Source: an Ukrainska Pravda source in the Khartiia Brigade

Details: Ukrainska Pravda has learned that the operation aimed to prevent Russian forces from advancing onto the right bank of the Oskil River, which is controlled by Ukraine's defence forces.

To achieve this, members of the corps descended into a main gas pipeline approximately 1.2 metres in diameter and fought their way through it for several kilometres. The conditions made firefights extremely difficult.

"We fought inside the pipe itself, where there is very little room to manoeuvre. That is what makes it so difficult. No one in Ukraine had done anything like this before," the source told Ukrainska Pravda.

As a result of the operation, Ukrainian soldiers mopped up at least part of the pipeline of Russian troops.

At the same time, as fighting continued inside the pipe, the corps also wiped out Russian troops who had previously travelled through it to the right bank, climbed out and entrenched themselves in the forest.

Why this matters: Since summer 2025, Russian forces have been using the Shebelynka-Ostrohozk main gas pipeline, which runs beneath the Oskil River, to reach the right bank. This was the main route used by Russian troops to enter the forest north of Kupiansk and the city itself.

Blowing up such a substantial structure is practically impossible. Ukraine's defence forces were therefore forced either to wipe out Russian troops on the left bank using drones or to clear them from the right bank after they had emerged from the pipe.

Gaining control of the pipeline, even partially, allows Ukrainian forces to prevent Russian troops from reaching their positions on the right bank.

Background: The 2nd Khartiia Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine previously reported that during Operation Veles on the Kupiansk front, Ukraine's defence forces had advanced more than 15 km underground into the Russian rear and captured over 30 Russian soldiers.

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