Russian forces attack Ukrainian troops in Kursk via gas pipeline, say bloggers
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A Ukrainian serviceman patrolling an area controlled by the Ukrainian army in the town of Sudzha, in Russia's Kursk region, in on Aug 16, 2024.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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MOSCOW - 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, said pro-Russian war bloggers.
The ruse was among moves aimed at cutting off thousands of Ukrainian soldiers in the region ahead of Ukrainian talks with the United States on a possible peace deal to end the war.
Ukrainian troops seized about 1,300 sq km of the Kursk region
Russia has been pressing the attack with some success in recent days, with open source maps on March 7 showing Kyiv’s contingent in Kursk nearly surrounded after rapid Russian advances.
“The lid of the smoking cauldron is almost closed,” former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Telegram. “The offensive continues.”
Mr Yuri Podolyaka, a Ukrainian-born, pro-Russian military blogger, said Russian special forces crept nearly 16km-long inside the 1.5m wide gas pipeline and spent several days in the pipe before surprising Ukrainian forces from the rear near Sudzha.
Pro-Russian war blogger Two Majors said a major battle was under way for Sudzha and that Russian forces had surprised Ukrainian soldiers by entering the area via a major gas pipeline.
European fears
A statement from Ukraine’s general staff said Russian soldiers had used the gas pipeline in an attempt to gain a foothold, but the Russians were promptly detected and attacked with rocket, artillery and drones.
The Ukrainian military’s General Staff in a late afternoon report said Ukrainian forces repelled 15 Russian attacks in Kursk region, with six armed clashes still going on. It also reported 12 Russian air strikes on their positions.
Russian forces’ advances in 2024 and US President Donald Trump’s upending of US policy on Ukraine and Russia have caused fears among European leaders that Ukraine will lose the war and that Mr Trump is turning his back on Europe.
The US paused military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine in February after a meeting between Mr Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Feb 28 descended into acrimony
In its daily update on the situation in Kursk, Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces had retaken the village of Lebedevka, as well as seized Novenke, a hamlet across the border in Ukraine’s neighbouring Sumy region.
Ukrainian military vehicles pass a sign reading Ukraine (left) and Russia on the Sudzha border crossing, in Russia’s Kursk region.
PHOTO: DAVID GUTTENFELDER/NYTIMES
Moscow made no official mention of the pipeline operation, but Major-General Apti Alaudinov, commander of Chechnya’s Akhmat special forces, reposted pictures on Telegram of special forces inside a gas pipeline.
“I am surprised by people who really think that Russia could lose,” said Maj-Gen Alaudinov. “It is a good day.”
Russian Telegram channels showed pictures of special forces in gas masks and lights, some using colourful colloquial Russian curses, as they made their way along the inside of what looked like a large pipe.
Owing to battlefield reporting restrictions on both sides, Reuters was unable to verify the reports.
The Soviet-era Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod pipeline used to bring gas from western Siberia via Sudzha to Ukraine, but Kyiv terminated all Russian gas transit through its territory on Jan 1.
Ukraine’s incursion into Kursk last August was the most serious attack on Russian territory since the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941.
Another war blogger, Mr Yuri Kotenok, said Ukrainian forces have been moving equipment away from Sudzha, closer to the border.
The Russian offensive raises a serious tactical conundrum for Ukraine just as the spring thaw turns roads to mud tracks: should it withdraw from Kursk, and if so, can it do so without a disorderly rush to the border under intense Russian fire.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
In the eastern Donetsk region, where Russian forces have made slow but steady progress during gruelling fighting in what was once Ukraine’s industrial heartland, Moscow said on March 9 that its forces had taken the village of Kostyantynopil.
In a part of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region held by Russian forces, Russia-installed officials said Ukrainian forces launched a missile attack on a busy market in the town of Velyki Kopani. Russian news agencies quoted local health officials as saying the strike killed one person and injured seven.
Reuters could not independently verify the report.
Both the Kremlin and White House have said missteps could trigger World War III. REUTERS
