The Ukrainians recently announced the success of their "Operation Veles", which consisted of sending troops to a disused gas pipeline in the Kupiansk region. A way for kyiv to confront its adversary on a new front protected from drones, that of the underworld. It was opened by Russia two years ago and is gaining importance in this conflict.

Published on: 02/11/2026 - 17:42

After the clashes on the ground or the fights in the air, a new front seems to be opening in Ukraine... underground. “The Ukrainian army has decided to fight the Russians also in disused underground gas pipelines” around the city of Kupiansk, located in northeastern Ukraine, said the New York Times in a report published Friday, October 30.

For around ten days, the Ukrainian army has decided to show several Western media its efforts to take control of a gas pipeline which passes under the Oskil River and crosses this city that the Russian army is trying to occupy.

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kyiv launched Operation “Veles” in October, which President Volodymyr Zelensky described on Tuesday, October 27, as a “great success.” A military campaign during which Ukrainian soldiers, specially trained and equipped to survive underground, advanced for 15 kilometers along this 1.2 meter diameter gas pipeline in order to secure access. They would have succeeded in “eliminating” around a hundred Russian fighters and capturing around thirty during clashes in this underground network, said Volodymyr Zelensky.

“To my knowledge, this is the first example of a large-scale operation in a gas pipeline or an underground tunnel on the Ukrainian side,” underlines Huseyn Aliyev, specialist in the war in Ukraine at the University of Glasgow.

A winning tactic for the Russians

The Ukrainians did not invent this tactic, they only "turned this strategy against the Russian army which used it before", underlined the Ukrainian president.

In reality, Moscow has taken advantage of an underground network of gas pipelines and pipes wide enough for soldiers to use "since January 2024, with an operation that allowed Russian forces to infiltrate behind Ukrainian defense lines south of the town of Avdiivka in the Donetsk region", underlines Will Kingston-Cox, specialist on Russia and the war in Ukraine at the International Team for the Study of Security (ITSS) Verona.

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The Russian army used this tactic again during the battle for control of Kursk, then in the Kupiansk region where the Ukrainians decided to fight for every meter of gas pipeline.

This strategy "is based on the fact that there is a vast network of gas pipelines and other pipelines, which are no longer in service since Russian gas no longer passes through Ukraine in these conduits", explains Ryhor Nizhnikau, Ukraine specialist at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs.

“At first the Ukrainians made fun of the Russians”

These underground networks exist as well in the region of Kharkiv as in those of Lugansk, Donetsk and a little in that of Zaporizhia, specifies this expert. In urban areas, which are not crossed by gas pipelines, "the Russians have done the same with the drainage and water sanitation network", assures Gustav Gressel, analyst of military issues for the Austrian National Defense Academy.

“The Russians have as good knowledge of the configuration of this underground system as the Ukrainians since most of these pipes were built during the Soviet era,” explains Ryhor Nizhnikau.

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Initially, "Ukrainians mocked this approach, considering it too dangerous and doomed to failure"; notes Huseyn Aliyev. The Ukrainian forces considered it sufficient to wait for the enemy soldiers when they returned to the surface.

But the Russian successes at Avdiivka or Kursk led kyiv to revise its judgment on the relevance of going underground to surprise the adversary. In September 2025, independent Russian investigative media iStories hit the nail on the head, revealing how Russia was preparing to use the gas pipeline in the Kupiansk region for a larger offensive. The army notably stored ammunition and food there in order to make it a real alternative “route” to invade Koupiansk.

Safe from drones

“It becomes obvious that the more the war progresses, the more the underground passages represent a real new front,” assures Ryhor Nizhnikau. We must, in fact, find ways to advance or counterattack. Not easy on the surface when the front is frozen. Above all, “troops in open terrain are immediately spotted by enemy drones and targeted,” assures Will Kingston-Cox.

The permanent threat from drones has made these alternative underground routes interesting, although they are very narrow and sometimes dangerous because they are loaded with gas. “At least it is more predictable for soldiers who do not have to fear the possibility of a drone attack that is impossible to anticipate on the surface,” emphasizes Ryhor Nizhnikau.

It is also not possible to send drones into these galleries "because remote-controlled drones quickly lose the signal, and those connected to optical fibers can hardly maneuver around bends and narrow conduits", explains Gustav Gressel.

It is therefore largely out of necessity that underground space is starting to take up more and more space in the war in Ukraine. But, this approach “can never represent more than a tactic of support for the main effort of the two armies”, assures Ryhor Nizhnikau.

First, because “in many areas of the front line, there is no sufficient usable pipeline network,” underlines Huseyn Aliyev.

Then, because they are rarely large enough to allow the passage of a significant number of soldiers and equipment for a major offensive", explains Will Kingston-Cox. Finally, when they reappear on the surface, "they can only come out in small numbers, which makes them very vulnerable if the enemy has spotted them", explains this expert.

However, as elements of surprise in specific areas, “it can help break the deadlock in a situation”, believes Will Kingston-Cox. Until now, it was mainly Russian forces who used it. With Operation “Veles” in the Kupiansk region, the Ukrainians want to demonstrate that they are ready to confront the enemy on any terrain.

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