Russian forces snuck through gas pipeline to ambush Ukrainian troops in Kursk

Thomson Reuters

· Posted: Mar 09, 2025 2:25 PM EDT | Last Updated: 14 minutes ago

Russian peculiar forces crept for miles done a state pipeline adjacent the municipality of Sudzha successful an effort to astonishment Ukrainian forces arsenic portion of a large violative to eject them from the occidental Russian portion of Kursk, pro-Russian warfare bloggers said.

The ruse was among moves aimed astatine cutting disconnected thousands of Ukrainian soldiers successful the portion up of Ukrainian talks with the United States connected a imaginable bid woody to extremity the war.

Ukrainian troops seized astir 1,300 quadrate kilometres of Russia's Kursk portion successful August successful what Kyiv said was an effort to summation a bargaining spot successful aboriginal negotiations and to unit Russia to displacement forces from eastbound Ukraine.

Russia has been pressing its propulsion to regain power of the portion with immoderate occurrence successful caller days. Open root maps connected Friday showed Kyiv's contingent successful Kursk astir surrounded aft accelerated Russian advances.

"The lid of the smoking cauldron is astir closed," erstwhile Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said connected the Telegram messaging service. "The violative continues."

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Yuri Podolyaka, a Ukrainian-born, pro-Russian subject blogger, said Russian peculiar forces crept astir 16 kilometres along the wrong of the 1.5 metre-wide state pipeline and spent respective days successful the tube earlier astonishing Ukrainian forces from the rear adjacent Sudzha.

Pro-Russian warfare blogger Two Majors said a large conflict was underway for Sudzha and that Russian forces had amazed Ukrainian soldiers by entering the country via a large state pipeline.

A connection from Ukraine's airborne battle forces said that Russian soldiers had utilized the pipeline successful an effort to summation a foothold, but the Russians were promptly detected and attacked with rockets, artillery and drones.

The Ukrainian military's General Staff successful a precocious day study said Ukrainian forces repelled 15 Russian attacks successful Kursk region, with six equipped clashes inactive going on. It besides reported 12 Russian airstrikes connected their positions.

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In its regular update connected the concern successful Kursk, Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces had retaken the colony of Lebedevka, arsenic good arsenic seizing Novenke, a hamlet crossed the borderline successful Ukraine's neighbouring Sumy region.

Moscow made nary authoritative notation of the pipeline operation, but Maj.-Gen. Apti Alaudinov, commandant of Chechnya's Akhmat peculiar forces, reposted pictures connected Telegram of peculiar forces wrong a state pipeline.

"I americium amazed by radical who truly deliberation that Russia could lose," Alaudinov said. "It is simply a bully day."

Russian Telegram channels showed pictures of peculiar forces successful state masks and lights, immoderate utilizing colourful colloquial Russian curses, arsenic they made their mode on the wrong of what looked similar a ample pipe.

Owing to battlefield reporting restrictions connected some sides, Reuters was incapable to verify the reports.

The Soviet-era Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod pipeline utilized to bring state from occidental Siberia via Sudzha to Ukraine, but Ukraine terminated each Russian state transit done its territory opening Jan. 1.

Another warfare blogger, Yuri Kotenok, said that Ukrainian forces person been moving instrumentality distant from Sudzha, person to the border.

Russians grind retired gains successful eastbound Ukraine

In the eastbound Donetsk region, wherever Russian forces person made dilatory but dependable advancement during gruelling warring successful what was erstwhile Ukraine's concern heartland, Moscow said connected Sunday that its forces had taken the colony of Kostyantynopil.

In a portion of Ukraine's confederate Kherson portion held by Russian forces, Russia-installed officials said Ukrainian forces launched a rocket onslaught connected a engaged marketplace successful the municipality of Velyki Kopani. Russian quality agencies quoted section wellness officials arsenic saying the onslaught killed 1 idiosyncratic and injured seven.

Reuters could not independently verify the report.

Russian advances successful 2024 and U.S. President Donald Trump's upending of U.S. argumentation connected Ukraine and Russia person raised fears among European leaders that Ukraine volition suffer the warfare and that Trump is turning his backmost connected Europe.

The U.S. paused subject assistance and the sharing of quality with Ukraine this period aft a gathering betwixt Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy connected Feb. 28 descended into acrimony successful beforehand of the world's media.