Egypt Daily News – As Moscow seeks to reclaim parts of its border region at any cost before ceasefire negotiations begin including having Russian special forces travel 15km inside the gas pipeline, the intensity of battles in Ukraine has escalated, bringing the Kursk region back into the spotlight.
Russian Special Forces Inside a Gas Pipeline
A new British report has revealed that Russian special forces soldiers walked 15 kilometers inside abandoned pipelines to carry out attacks on Ukrainian units in the fiercely contested region.
The report added that the special forces infiltrated through a gas pipeline to attack Ukrainian units fighting in the Kursk region.
Citing Ukrainian officials and military bloggers, the report stated that the soldiers travelled 15 kilometers inside the pipeline, which Moscow had used until recently to transport Russian gas to Europe. Some of them spent several days inside the pipeline before launching an attack on Ukrainian units from behind, near the town of Sudzha.
Russian Forces Spotted Inside a Pipeline
Meanwhile, Russian Telegram channels shared images allegedly showing special forces wearing gas masks and moving inside what appears to be a large pipeline.
For its part, the Ukrainian General Staff confirmed on Saturday evening that what it called Russian “sabotage and assault groups” had used the pipeline in an attempt to gain a foothold. In a Telegram post, it stated that the special forces were detected in time and that Ukraine responded with missiles and artillery.
A Bold Incursion
It is worth noting that last August, Ukraine launched a bold incursion into Kursk, marking the largest attack on Russian territory since World War II. Within days, Ukrainian units seized 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of land, including the town of Sudzha.
Russian Advances and Ukrainian Forces at Risk
In recent days, Moscow has made significant advances, nearly encircling a Ukrainian military unit that had held territory in the region for seven months. Open-source battlefield maps indicate that tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers are at risk of being surrounded.
Additionally, they have managed to divide Ukrainian troops in the area into two groups—one in the northwest and the other in the east—while gaining fire control over the Sumy-Yunakivka-Sudzha highway, Ukraine’s main supply route in the region.
