Ukraine says Russian troops are using civilians as cover while retreating through gas pipeline near Kupiansk
Ukrainian troops say Russian soldiers retreating near Kupiansk are using civilians as cover and moving them through an underground gas pipeline previously used by Russian forces to infiltrate the city.
Reconnaissance drones operated by Ukraine's 2nd Khartiia Corps recorded a group of nine civilians near Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast on Sept. 27, including children, elderly people and a person using crutches.
Video released by the unit shows the group accompanied by several men in civilian clothes before entering the Shebelinka-Ostrogozhsk gas pipeline.
Khartiia said it believes the men are Russian soldiers who removed their uniforms and were retreating alongside the civilians to avoid Ukrainian attacks. The unit said Ukrainian troops observed the group but did not open fire because children and elderly civilians were present.
According to Khartiia, the civilians were taken from Kupiansk through the village of Holubivka to the pipeline and then led inside.
The unit said the civilians would have to travel more than 10 kilometers (6 miles) through the pipeline before emerging in a forest, from where Khartiia believes they could be taken to Russian-occupied territory.
Khartiia accused Russian troops of forcibly removing the civilians and using them as human shields. The unit said it had documented the incident and would submit the material for a war crimes investigation.
The same pipeline has previously been used by Russian troops to covertly enter Kupiansk. Ukrainian forces said in September 2025 that Russian soldiers had traveled through the underground pipeline to reach the city's northern outskirts.
Gas pipelines have also been used elsewhere on the battlefield. In March 2025, Russian troops used a section of the Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhhorod pipeline to move toward Sudzha in Russia's Kursk Oblast during fighting with Ukrainian forces.