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Ukrainian Troops Battle Russians Inside Gas Pipeline for Months Near Kupiansk in “Operation Impossible”
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Ukrainian troops from the 425th Separate Assault Regiment “Skelya” spent several months fighting inside an underground gas pipeline near the eastern Ukrainian city of Kupiansk in Kharkiv region, the regiment reported on October 22.
Skelya detailed the operation, which its troops called “Operation Impossible,” in footage published on its YouTube channel. The regiment stated that its troops cleared Russian forces from several kilometers of the pipeline and blocked further infiltration toward the city.
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“During the months-long operation, our soldiers conducted assault operations underground, living and fighting in darkness, cold, and dirt,” the regiment stated. “At the same time, assault groups held positions in Radkivka to prevent the enemy from using the entrance to the pipeline near the settlement.”
Skelya troops eventually cleared the section of pipeline of Russian forces and prevented them from continuing to use it as an underground route toward Kupiansk.
The conditions inside the pipeline forced soldiers to remain in extremely confined spaces for days at a time. “For several days, we were constantly in a horizontal position, so the first thing we wanted to do after getting out was simply stand up,” one of the operation’s participants described.
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The operation was aimed at denying Russian troops an underground approach to Kupiansk while Ukrainian assault groups simultaneously held the surrounding ground positions needed to secure access points to the pipeline, according to Skelya.
The fighting inside the pipeline came as Ukrainian forces increasingly turned underground infrastructure into an active part of operations around Kupiansk. On October 22, the 2nd Khartiia Corps reported that troops had traveled more than 15 kilometers underground during the separate Operation VELES before emerging behind Russian positions, while Ukrainian units attacked simultaneously on the surface.
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