The Subterranean Battle Playing Out Deep in Ukraine’s Soviet-Era Pipelines

A facts-only brief, written by a local AI model from this article in The Wall Street Journal, October 22, 2026. It may contain mistakes, and it is not the article: the full story is at wsj.com.

Ukrainian forces from the 13th Khartiia Brigade have engaged Russian troops in underground combat within Soviet-era gas pipelines near Kupyansk to counter subterranean infiltration tactics. The brigade, which operates under the codename Veles, reports capturing more than 30 Russian soldiers and killing over 100 in the main pipeline and its tributaries. Ukrainian commanders stated that they shifted to pushing enemies back inside the tunnels after surface attacks failed to stop Russian forces from digging new exits. Russian troops utilized these networks to bypass drone surveillance, establish hidden drone launch sites, and stage surprise attacks behind Ukrainian lines.

Background

• Ukraine’s energy supplier Ukrnafta operates approximately 2,000 miles of oil and 1,900 miles of gas pipelines, which Russian forces have also used in previous operations in the Kursk region and near Chasiv Yar.
• Mark Cancian of the Center for Strategic and International Studies noted that underground warfare is resurging as a response to precision weapons like drones and missiles.
• Russian forces have established extensive defensive works and are reportedly training new units dedicated to underground combat, according to Ukrainian intelligence.
• Historical precedents for tunnel warfare include the British Army’s mining units in World War I, Viet Cong networks in Vietnam, and Hamas infrastructure in Gaza.

Read the full article at wsj.com

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