Ukraine war latest: Ukrainian troops infiltrate Russian rear near Kupiansk through 15 kilometers of gas pipelines

Key developments on Oct. 22:

• Ukrainian troops infiltrate Russian rear near Kupiansk through 15 kilometers of gas pipelines, Khartiia says
• Ukraine to gain access to NATO procurement system for weapons, ammunition, Financial Times says
• Ukrainian military intelligence reveals new Russian cruise missile 'Filin'
• Ukrainian partisans claim sabotage of military communications near major Moscow data center
• Deadly Russian missile strike on Kyiv used cluster warheads, hours after Putin-Witkoff meeting

Ukrainian troops infiltrated the rear of Russian forces near Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast after moving about 15 kilometers (9 miles) through underground gas pipelines, Ukraine's National Guard’s 2nd Khartiia Corps said on Oct. 22.

The operation, code-named "Veles," was carried out by the 2nd Khartiia Corps together with other Ukrainian units, according to the corps.

Khartiia commander Brig. Gen. Ihor Obolienskyi said Ukrainian forces had studied how Russian troops were using underground routes and anticipated that they would try to exploit major gas pipelines running through Kharkiv Oblast.

"The Russians intended to use the gas routes to penetrate the rear of our forces. So we went underground ourselves," Obolienskyi said.

According to Khartiia, Ukrainian troops moved through the pipelines before combining the underground advance with operations above ground, including drone strikes.

The corps said more than 30 Russian soldiers were captured during the operation and that Russian forces suffered more than 100 casualties. The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify those figures.

Obolienskyi said the aim was both to stop Russian troops underground and to undermine tactics they had been using on the ground and from the air.

"We anticipated the enemy's actions and mastered the tactics of conducting combat operations underground," he said.

Russian forces have used gas pipelines on several occasions to move troops covertly around the Kupiansk sector. In January, Ukrainian troops said they had stopped a Russian assault involving about 50 soldiers attempting to advance through the Soyuz gas pipeline.

More recently, Khartiia said, Russian troops retreating near Kupiansk used civilians as human shields, leading a group that included children and elderly people to the Shebelinka–Ostrogozhsk pipeline and forcing them inside the pipe toward Russian-held territory. Ukrainian troops said they did not open fire, because civilians were present

"When the battlefield became transparent, the war went underground," the corps said when it first announced the operation on Oct. 21.

Ukraine to gain access to NATO procurement system for weapons, ammunition, Financial Times says

Ukraine will be able to purchase weapons, ammunition, and other military equipment through NATO's centralized procurement agency, potentially giving Kyiv faster and cheaper access to defense supplies, the Financial Times reported on Oct. 22.

Ukraine is entering a partnership with the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA), which handles procurement and logistical support for alliance members and partners, according to the Financial Times.

"It provides Ukraine with the ability to have a more structured framework to leverage a broad range of capabilities that we offer: procurement expertise, support services, and access to established industrial base," Jacqueline Borsboom, NSPA's director of support to operations, told the Financial Times.

The arrangement might allow Ukraine to use NATO's existing procurement system and supplier network rather than negotiating each purchase independently.

The NSPA also held an event in Kyiv last week attended by about 150 Ukrainian companies, explaining how manufacturers could register as eligible suppliers and compete for contracts, according to the Financial Times.

The new mechanism is separate from the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), under which NATO allies and partners fund purchases of U.S.-made weapons and ammunition for Ukraine. More than $6 billion in military equipment has been funded through PURL since the initiative was launched in July 2025, according to NATO.

The agreement comes as Kyiv seeks to diversify and stabilize its access to military supplies amid growing uncertainty over U.S. support.

In recent weeks, Ukraine has reported disruptions to some U.S.-provided capabilities, including intelligence sharing and the Starshield satellite system used by Ukrainian forces. President Volodymyr Zelensky said after talks in Oslo this week that efforts were underway to resolve those issues.

Ukrainian military intelligence reveals new Russian cruise missile 'Filin'

Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) announced details of a new Russian cruise missile called "Filin" and released a 3-D model of the missile alongside a list of components and electronics on its website on Oct. 22.

Russia began using the missile at the end of summer, HUR said, calling it a continuation of a Russian trend  to build "inexpensive air attack means with jet propulsion and ground-based launch."

The missile is 3.5 meters long with a wingspan of 3 meters, ablte to carry either 50 kilogram or 100 kilogram warheads, HUR said. It can fly both at ultra-low altitudes and up to 6 kilometers (about 3.7 miles) high, at a top speed of 800 kilometers per hour (about 497 miles per hour), across a distance of 1,200 kilometers (about 745 miles), according to the agency.

Some parts of the missile are apparently 3-D printed, HUR said, while the electronic component base of the onboard equipment is similar to other Russian missiles, but stands out for the increased share of Chinese components. Besides Chinese components, the agency also said the "Filin" included 35 U.S.-made components.

The onboard equipment is manufactured by PLAZ LLC, which is also involved in producing the Harpiya drone, HUR said, while the engine is the Russian-made R500, produced by Reynolds LLC.

Russia uses cruise and ballistic missiles to strike at Ukraine, and increasingly at the country's energy infrastructure. On Oct. 22, Russian ballistic missiles and cluster munitions struck transport and medical infrastructure in Kyiv in several waves overnight, killing at least one person and injuring 24 others.

"Three waves of ballistic strikes were launched by Russian 'humanists' on Kyiv since the evening," President Volodymyr Zelensky commented on the attack.

Russian forces launched a mass combined attack overnight with Iskander-M, S-400, Zircon, and Onyx missiles, as well as 210 drones of various types, including 110 jet-powered drones, the Air Force reported. Zelensky said Russia fired 21 missiles.

Ukrainian partisans claim sabotage of military communications near major Moscow data center

Agents of the Ukrainian partisan group Atesh said they disrupted Russian military communication lines around IXcellerate, one of Moscow's largest commercial data center operators, to interfere with Russian air-defense coordination and help Ukrainian drones reach their targets, the group said on Oct. 21.

"We are disabling the enemy's channels, disrupting command and control, and helping UAVs reach their targets," Atesh said.

The group claimed Russia's Defense Ministry uses infrastructure linked to IXcellerate for military communications and air-defense command systems, while concealing that traffic within civilian server networks.

The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the claim, and Atesh did not provide details on the extent or duration of the disruption. There has been no public confirmation from Russian authorities or IXcellerate that military communications were affected.

IXcellerate operates several data centers across Moscow and describes itself as a leading commercial data center operator in Russia. Its facilities host telecommunications and other digital infrastructure used by banks, retailers, and business customers.

The partisan group has previously claimed sabotage operations against Russian military and defense-linked infrastructure inside Russia, including attacks on railway and energy facilities.

Deadly Russian missile strike on Kyiv used cluster warheads, hours after Putin-Witkoff meeting

Russian ballistic missiles and cluster munitions struck transport and medical infrastructure in Kyiv in several waves overnight on Oct. 22, killing at least one person and injuring 24 others, according to Ukrainian officials, only hours after U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff visited Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg.

The Kyiv City Prosecutor's Office reported these numbers in the morning, saying Russia had struck across Holosiivskyi, Obolonskyi, Pecherskyi, Svyatoshynskyi and Dnipro dsitricts in Ukraine's capital.

Among the injured are four children, one of whom has been hospitalized, Ukraine's State Emergency Service said.

"Last night, the Russians used, among others, three ballistic missiles with cluster warheads against Kyiv. The peculiarity of these missiles is that they explode in the air, hitting the target, and hit everything around within a diameter of 400 meters," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

"Three waves of ballistic strikes were launched by Russian 'humanists' on Kyiv since the evening," Zelensky commented on the attack earlier.

During a meeting with Putin in St. Petersburg, Witkoff lauded Putin — wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Ukraine — as a "humanitarian."

Russian forces launched a mass combined attack overnight with Iskander-M, S-400, Zircon, and Onyx missiles, as well as 210 drones of various types, including 110 jet-powered drones, the Air Force reported. Zelensky said Russia fired 21 missiles. Ukrainian air defenses shot down 181 drones, including 87 jet-powered ones, according to the Air Force. Strikes were recorded at 32 locations, while debris from intercepted targets fell at eight others.

Presidential adviser Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov said that the Iskander missiles carried a K5 cluster munitions warhead.

"This warhead explodes above the ground and is specifically designed to cause maximum damage to people and equipment in an area of ​​400 by 400 meters," Beskrestnov said.

"This strike was not carried out with a military purpose. The goal was to destroy part of the old city and injure as many people as possible," he added.

Zelensky said one of the missiles struck Pechersk, in Kyiv's historic center, in an area between the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and the Sviato-Vvedensky Monastery. Buildings belonging to the monastery, residential buildings, shops, cafes and other civilian infrastructure were damaged, he said.

"There was not even theoretically any military facility nearby," Zelensky said. "It was a deliberate choice of weapon, a deliberate choice of the area of use, a deliberate attempt to inflict as many casualties and as much damage on civilians as possible."

Zelensky reported two people were killed and 34 injured, including five children, in Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast as a result of the attacks.