Russian Troops Tried to Hide in a Yet Another Pipe—Ukrainian Drones Were Already Watching

Ukrainian forces in the Kharkiv region have uncovered and destroyed a Russian attempt to establish what was believed to be a “safe haven” inside a drainage tunnel running beneath a local roadway, according to footage released by the 5th Brigade of Ukraine’s National Guard on January 14.

The Russian troops appear to have assumed the underground structure offered concealment from observation and strikes. But the hydraulic tunnel had long been under continuous visual surveillance by Ukrainian drone operators.

Ukrainian drones waited for the right moment—allowing the Russian assault group to finish setting up their shelter inside the tunnel—before striking the structure.

“As subsequent video surveillance showed, the reinforced concrete structures of the tunnel reliably buried several Russian occupiers beneath them,” the brigade said in a statement.

Earlier, Russian forces attempted to use a major gas pipeline as a covert route to launch an assault on Ukrainian positions in the Kupiansk sector, but the operation was detected and crushed by Ukrainian airborne troops.

Help Ukrainian Units Hold the Drone Line

Download APP