Ukrainian National Guard's Khartiia sergeant explains how troops trained for gas-pipe operation near Kupiansk

Dmytro "Volyniaka" Hrytsiuk, chief sergeant of the 2nd Corps "Khartiia" of Ukraine's National Guard, has published a column about the counteroffensive operation "Veles", which took place in underground utilities in the Kupiansk area of Kharkiv region. The account is the author's own view and not an independent assessment of the operation.

What the author says about the operation

According to Hrytsiuk, Russian forces had long tried to turn underground infrastructure near the front to their advantage. They used industrial pipes to slip unnoticed through the defence line into the rear of the Ukrainian grouping around Kupiansk, as they did during the assaults on Avdiivka. Ukrainian forces did not simply stop these infiltrations by welding the pipes shut: Khartiia studied the enemy's tactics, prepared its personnel for fighting in entirely new conditions and seized the initiative.

The author states that the corps' assault units covered more than 15 kilometres through underground communications and drove the occupiers out of the pipes. Soldiers moved without GPS, sunlight or conventional radio communication, often an arm's length from each other.

Conditions and preparation

The gas pipes are one metre or 1.2 metres in diameter. Troops crawl or move in a crouch for hours in full combat gear, in darkness, mud, rust, stale air and flooded sections where water sometimes reaches the chin.

To prepare, Khartiia built full-scale mock-ups of pipes and underground utilities at its training camps. Fighters practised overcoming claustrophobia and physical exhaustion, and learned to break through connecting passages between main lines, lay ventilation sleeves and organise communications. Equipment was also adapted for underground warfare, including ground robotic systems.

The concept of discipline

Hrytsiuk stresses that a soldier who panics in a narrow passage could block an entire assault group. He distinguishes discipline from what he sees as cruelty inherited from the Soviet era, which in his view breeds fear and distrust. In Khartiia, he says, discipline means strict standards grounded in fairness and the commander's personal example.