Russia's Surprise Kursk Underground Attack Ends In Disaster As Ukraine Kills 80%

The Kremlin sending special forces through a disused underground gas pipeline to surprise Ukrainian forces from the rear was a clever idea.

But there was a problem: the Russians had tried this before, during the assault on Avdiivka. Ukrainian units got wind of it and were waiting in ambush. 80% of the Russian special forces were killed.. JL

Harriet Barber reports in The Telegraph and Olena Mukhina reports in Euromaidan Press:

Ukraine thwarted a surprise attack conducted by Russia through a gas pipeline in Kursk on Sunday, saying enemy losses were “very high”. Russian special forces crept 15km through a gas pipeline, spending several days inside, in an attempt to surprise Ukrainian forces near Sudzha. “One of our airborne brigades used previously gathered intelligence on Russia’s plans to use underground pipeline routes for sabotage. An ambush allowed us to trap the enemy as they emerged from the tunnel. We blocked the exit, preventing escape. The group was then destroyed, with 80% of  the enemy personnel neutralized." Radio intercepts revealed the Russians' panic, with invaders complaining about being sent to certain death.

Ukraine reported successfully thwarted a surprise attack conducted by Russia through a gas pipeline in Kursk on Sunday, saying enemy losses were “very high”.

Russian special forces crept about 15km into a gas pipeline, spending several days inside, in an attempt to surprise Ukrainian forces near Sudzha in western Kursk, according to pro-Russian military bloggers.

The attack comes as Russia intensifies efforts to recapture the Kursk region, which Ukraine took eight months ago and has used as a strategic bargaining chip. The push to retake Kursk follows Donald Trump, the US president, cutting intelligence sharing with Ukraine, leaving Kyiv “blind” to incoming attacks.

 

Ukraine’s general staff confirmed that Russian “sabotage and assault groups” attempted to use the pipeline to establish a foothold outside Sudzha but were “detected in a timely manner”.

 

“At present, Russian special forces are being detected, blocked and destroyed. The enemy’s losses in Sudzha are very high,” the general staff reported. Ukraine’s air assault forces launched missile and artillery strikes, along with UAV systems, to target the invaders.

 

Earlier, Russian Telegram channels published videos of special forces in gas masks, some swearing, inside what looked like a large pipe. Sudzha, a crucial gas transfer hub, was once part of Russia’s natural gas pipeline system to Europe. Kyiv has maintained its presence in the region as leverage in potential peace talks. 

 

In the Sudzhanskyi district of Kursk Oblast, Russian forces attempted to infiltrate Ukrainian-controlled territory via the underground communications of the Progress gas pipeline. However, 80% of Russian troops were eliminated, as reported by Ukrainian Armed Forces officer Myroslav Hai.

The battle for control over the Kursk front has reached a critical juncture as Russian forces intensify their offensive operations, significantly limiting Ukraine’s strategic options, military analysts report. Russian troops have advanced further into the region, making key territorial gains while leveraging overwhelming drone warfare to disrupt Ukrainian logistics and supply chains.

“The command of one of our airborne assault brigades effectively used previously gathered intelligence on Russia’s plans to use underground pipeline routes for sabotage in the Sudzhanskyi district. The Russians attempted to replicate the tactics used in the Avdiivka operation, leveraging engineering structures to infiltrate Ukrainian territory,” he explained.

Russian troops used a drainage pipe approximately 2 km long to infiltrate the operational rear of a Ukrainian grouping during their Avdiivka operation in Donetsk Oblast. This tactic enabled them to create the threat of both flanking strikes and the operational encirclement of certain Ukrainian units.

In Russia’s Kursk Oblast, Ukrainian forces were quick to respond to the attack.

“A well-organized ambush allowed us to trap the enemy as they emerged from the tunnel. At the critical moment, we blocked the exit, preventing any escape. The group was then destroyed, with about 80% of the enemy personnel neutralized,” Hai said.

He also noted that radio intercepts revealed Russia’s panic, with invaders complaining about being sent to certain death.

Ukraine’s incursion into Kursk last August marked the most significant attack on Russian territory since the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. Within days, Ukrainian units had captured 1,000 square kilometres of territory, including the strategic border town of Sudzha, and taken hundreds of Russian prisoners of war.

However in recent months, Russian forces have pushed Ukrainian troops back across the region, placing tens of thousands in danger of being encircled.

Open source maps on Friday showed Kyiv’s contingent in Kursk on the verge of being surrounded after rapid Russian advances. Ukraine’s soldiers in the region are also weary and bloodied by relentless assaults of more than 50,000 troops, including some from Russia’s ally North Korea.

 

On Sunday, Russia claimed the capture of two villages in eastern Ukraine: Kostyantynopil in Donetsk and Novenke in Sumy. Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said that recent advances by Russian forces against Ukraine in the Kursk region meant that Kyiv’s soldiers were almost surrounded. In a post on Telegram about the fighting in Kursk, Medvedev wrote: “The lid of the smoking cauldron is almost closed. The offensive continues.”

Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, said on Sunday that Russian forces had launched more than 1,200 guided bombs, 870 drones, and over 80 missiles across Ukraine in the past week, resulting in at least 14 deaths on Friday and Saturday.