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By Brendan Cole
Senior Reporter
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Ukrainian troops crept through 9 miles of underground pipelines to infiltrate the rear of Russia's forces, according to the commander who headed what has been dubbed Ukraine's first underground operation.
The mission, code-named "Veles"—for the Slavic god of the underworld—was revealed in a social media post by the 2nd Khartia (also spelled Khartiia) Corps of Ukraine's national guard, which also shared video of the operation.
Khartia commander Brigadier General Ihor Obolienskyi said on Telegram that Ukrainian troops from the corps and other units had examined how Russian troops were using underground routes.
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They predicted that they would try to use gas pipelines running through the Kharkiv region in Ukraine to penetrate Ukraine's rear, but according to Obolienskyi, "we went underground ourselves."
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Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.
Ukrainian troops combined the underground offensive with surface operations and drone strikes that stopped Russian forces from infiltrating the rear of Ukraine's lines in the Kupiansk area, he said.
A video montage posted by the corps shows troops inside a tunnel and a map of their route.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said on X: "There’s no hiding from us on our soil, even underground."
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More than 30 Russian soldiers were captured and Russian forces suffered more than 100 casualties, according to the corps. Newsweek could not confirm those figures.
"Ukraine studied the enemy's movements carefully and stopped the Russian operation intended to infiltrate the Ukrainian rear," wrote Anton Geraschenko, former Ukrainian interior affairs adviser who posts regular updates of Ukraine's war effort on X.
"Then, Khartiia went underground themselves," he wrote, calling it "Ukraine's first underground operation."
The mission also included troops from Ukraine's Charter Brigade, the R.U.G. Assault Regiment, the Lava Unmanned Systems Regiment, the Achilles Unmanned Systems Brigade and Main Intelligence Directorate units, in particular, the Freedom of Russia Legion.
Have Gas Pipelines Been Used in the War Before?
Russian forces have used gas pipelines on several occasions to move troops covertly around the Kupiansk sector.
In January, Ukrainian troops said they had stopped a Russian assault involving about 50 soldiers attempting to advance through the Soyuz gas pipeline.
The Khartia corps said that on October 13, Russian troops retreating near Kupiansk used Ukrainian civilians, including children and the elderly, to the Shebelinka-Ostrogozhsk pipeline.
They were forced inside the pipe toward Russian-held territory. Ukrainian forces did not open fire because of the presence of civilians.
"When the battlefield became transparent, the war moved underground," Khartia said in a Telegram post on October 21.
What Is the Khartia Brigade?
The Khartia brigade was formed on March 19, 2022, as the Khartia Volunteer Unit under the 127th Territorial Defense Brigade, composed mostly of volunteers in the Kharkiv region, according to Military Land.net.
On March 20, 2023, it was expanded into a full brigade under the Ministry of Internal Affairs Offensive Guard program. It became the 13th Brigade of Operational Appointment Khartia in the National Guard.
The 13th National Guard Khartia Brigade was assigned to lead the newly organized Second Corps and has fought in many major battles and sectors.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Matthew Robinson and Dave Siminoff.
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