Russian Forces Use Gas Pipeline to Ambush Ukrainian Troops in Kursk- wna24

Kyiv: Russian army’s special forces used gas pipeline to walk miles to strike at Ukrainian units from the rear in the Kursk region, Ukraine’s military and Russian war bloggers reported, as Moscow moves to recapture parts of its border province that Kyiv seized in a shock offensive.

Within days, Ukrainian units had captured 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of territory, including the strategic border town of Sudzha, and taken hundreds of Russian prisoners of war.

According to Kyiv, the operation aimed to gain a bargaining chip in future peace talks, and force Russia to divert troops away from its grinding offensive in eastern Ukraine.

According to Telegram posts by a Ukrainian-born, pro-Kremlin blogger, Russian operatives walked about 15 kilometers (9 miles) inside the pipeline, which Moscow had until recently used to send gas to Europe. Some Russian troops had spent several days in the pipe before striking Ukrainian units from the rear near the town of Sudzha, blogger Yuri Podolyaka claimed.

A war blogger known by the alias Two Majors reported intense fighting in Sudzha, with Russian forces reportedly entering the town via a gas pipeline. Russian Telegram channels shared photos of what they claimed were special forces operatives, dressed in gas masks and maneuvering inside a large pipeline.

Before the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sudzha had a population of around 5,000. The town is home to important gas transfer and measuring stations along the pipeline, which was once a key route for Russian natural gas exports through Ukrainian territory.

Russia bombarded Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and grid with missiles and drones during the night, officials said on Friday.

This comes hours after Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that talks with the US on ending the 3-year war will take place next week.