Gas Pipeline Tactics: Russia's Surprise Move in Kursk

In a surprising twist, Russian special forces found a unique way to attack Ukrainian troops. They used a gas pipeline to sneak up on Ukrainian units in the Kursk region. This move came as Russia claimed to be making progress in its efforts to retake parts of the border province that Ukraine had seized earlier in the year. The Ukrainian military had launched a bold attack on Kursk in August, capturing a significant amount of territory, including the important border town of Sudzha. This operation was meant to give Ukraine a stronger position in future peace talks and to force Russia to move troops away from its eastern offensive. However, months later, Ukrainian soldiers in Kursk are facing tough conditions. They are under constant attack from a large number of Russian troops, including some from North Korea. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers are at risk of being surrounded, according to open-source maps of the battlefield. The gas pipeline that Russian forces used to surprise Ukrainian troops was once a major route for sending natural gas to Europe. The town of Sudzha, which had around 5, 000 residents before the full-scale invasion in February 2022, is a key location along this pipeline. It houses major gas transfer and measuring stations. Russian war bloggers shared details about the operation. One blogger, Yuri Podolyaka, claimed that Russian operatives walked about 15 kilometers inside the pipeline before launching their attack. Another blogger, using the alias Two Majors, said that Russian forces managed to enter the town through the pipeline. Photos on Russian Telegram channels showed special forces operatives wearing gas masks and moving along what looked like the inside of a large pipe. Ukraine's General Staff confirmed that Russian "sabotage and assault groups" used the pipeline to try and gain a foothold outside Sudzha. They reported that Russian troops were detected and responded to with rockets and artillery. "At present, Russian special forces are being detected, blocked and destroyed. The enemy’s losses in Sudzha are very high, " the General Staff reported. Another Russian war blogger, who goes by the call sign Thirteenth, argued that the attacking force lacked the necessary supplies to succeed. "Food, water, ammunition, communications, charging electrical devices, power banks, the approach of the main forces, evacuating the wounded . . . Two or three groups in the rear without all this — that’s a disaster, " the blogger wrote on Telegram. The Russian Defense Ministry reported that its troops had taken four villages north and northwest of Sudzha. The claim came a day after the ministry reported the capture of three more villages near Sudzha. Ukraine did not immediately comment on the Russian claims. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said in an interview that Ukraine “may not survive” as he continued to withhold American arms and intelligence in an effort to force Kyiv into peace negotiations with its invader. In an interview with Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures, ” Trump was asked about a warning from Polish President Andrzej Duda “that without American support, Ukraine will not survive” and whether he was “comfortable” with that outcome. He replied, “Well, it may not survive anyway. ” He added, “But we have some weaknesses with Russia. You know, it takes two. ” In other developments, French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu said Sunday that France will use profits from frozen Russian assets to finance an additional 195 million euros ($211 million) in arms for Ukraine, the latest in a series of military aid deliveries funded through the assets. In an interview with the La Tribune Dimanche newspaper, Lecornu said Paris will send new 155 mm artillery shells and glide bombs for Mirage 2000 fighter jets it previously gave to Ukraine. Ukrainian drones reportedly targeted oil infrastructure in southern and central Russia overnight into early Sunday. One drone struck an oil depot in Cheboksary, a Russian city on the Volga River about 1, 000 kilometers (620 miles) from the border, the local governor reported. According to Oleg Nikolaev, nobody was hurt, but the depot needed reconstruction work. Footage circulated on Russian Telegram channels of what appeared to be a fire at or near one of Russia’s largest oil refineries, in the southern city of Ryazan. Shot, a news channel on Telegram, cited local residents as saying they heard several nighttime blasts near the refinery. The local governor, Pavel Malkov, said Ukrainian drones had been shot down nearby. He claimed there had been no casualties or damage. Ukraine did not immediately comment on either incident. Concerns that Elon Musk could turn off Starlink satellite internet service to Ukraine prompted a sharp exchange Sunday on X involving Musk, the Polish foreign minister and U. S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski wrote that if Musk’s rocket company SpaceX, which runs Starlink, “proves to be an unreliable provider, ” Poland “will be forced to look for other suppliers. ” Musk told Sikorski: “Be quiet, small man. You pay a tiny fraction of the cost. And there is no substitute for Starlink. ” Rubio told Sikorski: “No one has made any threats about cutting Ukraine off from Starlink. And say thank you because without Starlink, Ukraine would have lost this war long ago and Russians would be on the border with Poland right now. ” In fact, Russians are already on the border with Poland because the Russian region of Kaliningrad lies on Poland’s northern border. The back-and-forth between the three concluded with Sikorski thanking Rubio: “Thank you, Marco, for confirming that the brave soldiers of Ukraine can count on the vital internet service provided jointly by the U. S and Poland. Together, Europe and the United States can help Ukraine to achieve a just peace. ”