Ukrainian troops traveled more than 15 km underground and emerged behind Russian lines in the Kupiansk sector — details of the operation
Kyiv • UNN
During Operation “Veles,” National Guard soldiers covered more than 15 km underground in the Kupiansk sector. They captured more than 30 occupiers.
Soldiers of the National Guard of Ukraine conducted Operation "Veles", during which they traversed more than 15 km through underground infrastructure and emerged behind Russian forces on the Kupiansk front. As a result of the operation, Ukrainian defenders captured more than 30 occupiers, while enemy losses exceeded 100 servicemen. This was reported by the 2nd Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine "Khartiia", writes UNN.
Details
According to the military, the operation disrupted the Russians’ plans to penetrate the rear of Ukrainian positions near Kupiansk.
Ihor Obolenskyi, commander of the "Khartiia" Corps, said that Ukrainian troops had studied the tactics of the enemy, which used gas pipelines for covert movement, and decided to employ a similar approach.
How Ukrainian troops conducted the underground operation
We observed how the enemy operated underground. The Russians intended to use gas pipelines to penetrate the rear of our forces. Then we went underground ourselves. We anticipated the enemy’s actions and mastered the tactics of conducting combat operations underground
The underground advance was coordinated with the actions of ground units and drone strikes. Before the operation, the soldiers underwent special training, while sappers and engineers prepared the route.
Due to the lack of GPS and stable radio communications underground, the military used their own solutions for navigation, communication, and life support.
"Khartiia" called "Veles" the world’s first full-scale underground counteroffensive operation.