Ukraine’s most unusual counteroffensive: foreign volunteers crawl 15 km through ice-cold pipe in gas masks, past Russian corpses to rout the rest
More than 100 Russians were killed and more than 30 captured in the operation, Khartiia said.
Ukraine launched a unique counteroffensive inside a Russian gas pipe being used to infiltrate Kupiansk. Colombian volunteers from Ukraine's Khartiia corps traversed over 15 kilometers through the pipeline, routing Russian forces inside. This marked the first significant underground counteroffensive in the war, according to Khartiia.
The objective for Russia was Kupiansk as a logistics hub and a gateway to deeper penetration into Kharkiv Oblast. The city's Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi station, a crucial rail junction, would grant Russian forces easier access to supplies and equipment. Khartiia paired the underground operation with a surface assault on the pipe's known entry and exit points, as Major Hamlet Avagyan explained.
He selected the shortest soldiers and trained them for weeks in a pipe of the same diameter, equipped with gas masks and oxygen tanks. The sappers had mined the approaches, and the team pushed through the narrow tunnel in total darkness and freezing conditions. Barricades made from the bodies of deceased Colombian volunteers led the way, stretching about 200 meters of debris.
Russian forces even utilized their own fallen comrades, stacking their bodies as barricades within the pipe. One volunteer, callsign Agihon, spent nearly a month underground. After clearing the corpses, he recounted hearing Russian voices a few meters ahead. One man, alone, ventured forward in the dark. Cuervo, another volunteer, assumed the most dangerous task.
He discarded his body armor and helmet, which could snag in the pipe, and crawled 40 to 50 meters on his belly, forbidding his comrades from following. He fired upon the Russian soloist, neutralizing the threat. As Khartiia units advanced through the pipe, they engaged Russian strongholds above, employing artillery, electronic warfare, and drones to prevent reinforcement.
The underground team claimed over 100 Russian casualties and more than 30 prisoners, effectively halting Russia's push for Kupiansk's rear.
Written by urgent.news from Euromaidan Press's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
