Operation of Ukrainian “Veles” pipeline near Kupiansk “eliminates” more than 100 Russian soldiers, says Zelensky

Ukrainian forces “eliminated” more than 100 Russian soldiers and captured more than 30 others in an operation involving underground gas pipelines near Kupiansk, Kharkiv Oblast, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on October 27.

“The Russians had already tried to use underground gas pipelines to cross our positions and launch assault operations. Ukrainian warriors managed to transform this tactic, modernize it and make it much more sophisticated and technologically advanced,” Zelensky said.

The operation, codenamed “Veles,” involved an underground advance of more than 15 kilometers (9 miles), according to Zelensky.

The operation was carried out by the 2nd Khartiia Corps of the National Guard alongside other Ukrainian units.

Zelensky said he received reports on the first results and progress of the operation from Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Mykhailo Drapatyi, Commander of the 2nd Khartiia Corps Ihor Obolienskyi and Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Pavlo Palisa.

Khartiia’s 2nd Corps previously reported on October 22 that Ukrainian troops had infiltrated Russian rear positions near Kupiansk via underground gas pipelines as part of Operation Veles.

The operation followed earlier Russian attempts to use the same tactic in the region. On September 12, Ukrainian battlefield monitoring group DeepState reported that Russian troops used a gas pipeline to cross the Oskil River and penetrate Ukrainian defenses near Kupiansk.