# These pipelines once carried Russian gas to Europe. Now they carry Russian and Ukrainian soldiers into battle.

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/these-pipelines-once-carried-russian-gas-to-europe-now-they-carry-russian-and-ukrainian-soldiers-into-battle/
- Published: 2026-11-02T23:24:59+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-03T20:09:53+00:00
- Original publisher: Meduza
- Original article: https://meduza.io/en/feature/2026/11/03/these-pipelines-once-carried-russian-gas-to-europe-now-they-carry-russian-and-ukrainian-soldiers-into-battle
- Topics: Culture, Europe, Russia-Ukraine War, Travel, World

## Key points

- Soldiers use pipelines to evade drones and surprise enemy forces.
- At least 57 pipes run beneath the contested area.
- Ukraine fears Russia could exploit them in a winter offensive.

## Summary

Russian and Ukrainian forces are using disused gas pipelines as routes through the front line, allowing soldiers to move underground and emerge behind enemy positions. The tactics have grown in importance as heavy drone activity makes movement across exposed ground increasingly dangerous, and control of the tunnels could shape fighting in eastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian military sources say Russia has been building up troops and supplies for a possible winter offensive. In March 2025, between 100 and several hundred Russian soldiers reportedly crawled several kilometres through a section of the Urengoy–Pomary–Uzhhorod pipeline to get behind Ukrainian lines near Kursk. Ukrainian forces later obtained maps showing at least 57 steel pipes beneath the combat zone, most one to two metres in diameter; gas transit through Ukraine ended in early 2025.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.