Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Operation Veles “eliminated” more than 100 Russian troops and captured more than 30 near Kupiansk, as Ukraine sought to block a route behind its lines.
The Oct. 27 figures are Ukrainian claims that have not been independently verified. Zelenskyy said the operation strengthened Ukraine’s position in the area.
The 2nd Khartiia Corps, part of Ukraine’s National Guard, announced Veles and described its underground advance on Oct. 22. It said troops traversed a route exceeding 15 kilometers in the Kupiansk sector. The corps said the mission paired underground movement with surface activity and drone strikes to keep Russian forces from reaching positions behind Ukrainian lines. EconoTimes previously covered the corps’ initial account of the maneuver.
The corps initially reported more than 100 Russian “losses”; Zelenskyy later described more than 100 troops as “eliminated.” Neither account gives a killed-versus-wounded breakdown. The Kyiv Independent said it could not independently verify the corps’ initial loss estimate.
Khartiia said personnel trained for confined spaces and that the mission used its technology to maintain communications, navigate underground and provide life support.
Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing an unnamed Khartiia Brigade source, that troops exchanged fire inside a gas pipe about 1.2 meters across and traveled several kilometers through it. The corps’ figure covers the full underground advance; its announcement did not say how much of that distance was inside the pipe.
DeepState reported in Sept. 2025 that Russian troops had taken a gas pipeline route across the Oskil River and into Kupiansk. Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces had reversed the tactic: “Our warriors turned this tactic against the Russians.”
