Russian Troops Force Civilians Into 6-Mile Gas Pipeline While Using Them as Cover

Russian troops allegedly forced children and elderly civilians into a gas pipeline near Kupiansk while suspected soldiers in civilian clothes moved alongside them, using the group as cover during Ukraine’s ongoing counteroffensive, according to Ukraine’s 2nd Khartia Corps on September 28.

Reconnaissance drones operated by the National Guard formation recorded the group on September 27 as Russian forces were withdrawing from parts of the Kupiansk area in the Kharkiv region.

Video released by Khartia shows nine people, including children, elderly civilians and a person walking on crutches. Several military-age men wearing civilian clothes can also be seen accompanying them.

Khartia assessed that the men were likely Russian soldiers who had removed their uniforms and were attempting to move away from Ukrainian forces while remaining close to civilians. That identification has not been independently verified.

Ukrainian troops monitoring the group did not open fire because children and elderly people were present, the corps said.

The civilians were reportedly taken from Kupiansk through the village of Holubivka to the Shebelinka-Ostrogozhsk gas pipeline and forced inside.

The same pipeline has been used by Russian forces to covertly move assault troops toward Kupiansk, according to the Ukrainian military.

“Now they are using the same pipe to abduct civilians. Children and elderly people will have to travel more than 10 kilometers through it. The pipe emerges in a forest, and from there the people will presumably be taken to occupied territory. The Russians filmed them throughout the entire journey,” Khartia said.

The corps said Russian troops appeared to be relying on the presence of civilians to deter Ukrainian strikes as the group moved away from the fighting.

International humanitarian law prohibits using the presence or movement of civilians to shield military forces or operations from attack. Article 51(7) of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions specifically bars directing civilian movement for that purpose.

The Fourth Geneva Convention also prohibits individual or mass forcible transfers and deportations of protected civilians from occupied territory, except under narrowly defined circumstances related to civilian security or imperative military necessity.

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War in Ukraine

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Khartia said it had documented the September 27 incident and would submit the material for a war-crimes investigation.

Previously, UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine revealed that Russian forces have committed widespread and systematic sexual violence against Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war since the start of the full-scale invasion, with the United Nations documenting 892 victims, including 16 children.

The documented cases, recorded between February 24, 2022, and July 31, 2026, involved rape, gang rape, sexualized torture, genital mutilation, electric shocks to victims’ genitals, forced nudity, and other forms of sexual violence. The alleged perpetrators included Russian military personnel, prison staff, and security service officers.

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