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Russia-Ukraine War

A Ukrainian serviceman of the Khartiia Brigade at a command post near Kupiansk, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine, on April 1, 2026.
War

How Ukraine defends Kupiansk from Russian troops crawling through pipes

by Asami Terajima

KHARKIV OBLAST — The longest a Russian soldier can hope to survive for after emerging from the underground pipeline is, according to those hunting them, one single hour. "But it's usually 10 minutes, and that's it," "Tovsty," chief sergeant of a company in Ukraine's Khartiia Brigade, says at a command post in northeastern Kharkiv Oblast. Tovsty is watching live drone footage showing a scene which has been repeating itself over and over again for months now — Russian soldiers emerging from disu

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How Ukraine defends Kupiansk from Russian troops crawling through pipes

KHARKIV OBLAST — The longest a Russian soldier can hope to survive for after emerging from the underground pipeline is, according to those hunting them, one single hour. "But it's usually 10 minutes, and that's it," "Tovsty," chief sergeant of a company in Ukraine's Khartiia Brigade, says at a command post in northeastern Kharkiv Oblast. Tovsty is watching live drone footage showing a scene which has been repeating itself over and over again for months now — Russian soldiers emerging from disu

A Ukrainian serviceman of the Khartiia Brigade at a command post near Kupiansk, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine, on April 1, 2026.

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About War

The Kyiv Independent's coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, after eight years of aggression against Ukraine that began in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea and fighting in Donbas. The war has resulted in tens of thousands of military and civilian casualties and displaced millions of Ukrainians. NATO and Western allies have provided military aid to Ukraine while the conflict continues across fronts in Ukraine’s south and east.

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