Sunday, March 9, 2025 - Russian special forces crept miles through a major gas pipeline near the town of Sudzha in an attempt to surprise Ukrainian forces as part of a major offensive to eject Ukrainian soldiers from the western Russian region of Kursk
Scores of Ukrainian soldiers reportedly seized about 1,300 square km of
Russia’s Kursk region in August last year in what Kyiv said was an attempt to
gain a bargaining chip in future negotiations and to force Russia to shift
military forces from eastern Ukraine.
Russia’s Defence Ministry, in its daily update on the situation in
Kursk, said its forces had retaken the village of Lebedevka, as well as seizing
Novenke, a hamlet across the border in Ukraine’s neighbouring Sumy region.
According to a Ukrainian-born, pro-Russian military blogger, Yuri
Podolyaka, Russian special forces had walked miles along the inside of the
major gas pipeline and some had spent several days in the pipe before
surprising Ukrainian forces from the rear near Sudzha.
Sudzha is the home of major gas transfer and
measuring stations on a pipeline that used to carry Russian natural gas into
the Ukrainian gas transmission system for onward transportation to Europe.
The pro-Russian war blogger said a major battle was under way for
Sudzha, stating that Russian forces had surprised Ukrainian soldiers by
entering the area via a major gas pipeline.
Russian Telegram channels showed pictures of special forces in gas masks
and lights, some using colourful Russian curses, along the inside of what
looked like a large pipe.
In a statement from Ukraine’s general staff, Russian soldiers had used
the gas pipeline in an attempt to gain a foothold, but airborne assault forces
promptly detected them and responded with rocket, artillery and drone attacks
that were destroying the Russian units.
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