‘We Outplayed Them’: Ukraine Claims First Underground Counteroffensive

With no GPS, no daylight, and Russian positions overhead, Ukrainian troops pushed through more than 15 kilometers (9 miles) of underground infrastructure before emerging behind enemy lines near Kupiansk.

The operation, code-named Veles, used concealed underground routes to bypass Russian positions in northeastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, according to a press release from the National Guard’s 2nd Khartiia Corps, which commanded the operation.

The operation’s name, Veles, refers to a Slavic deity associated with the underworld – a reference to the concealed route Ukrainian troops used to reach Russian positions.

The corps said the maneuver helped prevent Russian troops from moving into the rear of Ukrainian positions around Kupiansk. More than 30 Russian personnel were captured, while Russian losses exceeded 100.

The distance of more than 15 kilometers (9 miles) refers to the troops’ underground movement, rather than a confirmed advance of the front line by that distance.

“Russians believed underground infrastructure was their exclusive tool for bypassing our defenses,” Brig. Gen. Ihor Oboliensky, commander of the Khartiia Corps, said in the statement. “We studied their experience, outplayed them on their own ground, and turned that threat into an advantage for our counteroffensive.”

An assault beneath the battlefield

The operation required soldiers to navigate confined spaces without GPS, daylight, or reliable conventional radio communications. Emerging above ground meant entering combat under difficult conditions.

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Engineers, combat engineers, and support personnel prepared the underground route. Troops underwent physical and psychological preparation for operating in enclosed spaces, while the corps employed its own systems for navigation, communications, and sustaining personnel underground.

Above ground, other Ukrainian units advanced in coordination with the underground force. Drone operations, including strikes by the 429th Achilles Unmanned Systems Brigade, were coordinated through a joint center, according to the corps.

The intended effect was to confront Russian troops with simultaneous threats from different directions: Ukrainian forces approaching on the surface while another contingent emerged behind their positions.

“Veles proves that there is no positional deadlock for those who possess initiative and technology,” Obolienskyi said. “Our troops traveled 15 kilometers [9 miles] underground, where no army in the world has yet advanced, and we will continue driving the enemy from our land.”

Khartiia described Veles as the world’s first full-scale underground counteroffensive maneuver.

A force drawn from several units

The operation involved a grouping under the headquarters of the 2nd Khartiia Corps.

Participating forces included the National Guard’s 13th Khartiia Brigade, the 23rd R.U.G. Assault Regiment, the 21st Lava Unmanned Systems Regiment, and the Achilles drone brigade, according to the statement.

Units of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR) also participated, including the Freedom of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps. The release listed additional Ukrainian defense units without identifying them.

Khartiia said the operation formed another stage of its campaign to reclaim occupied parts of the Kharkiv region and disrupted a Russian effort to reach the rear of Kupiansk.

The formation began as a volunteer territorial defense unit in 2022, became a National Guard brigade in 2023, and later formed the basis of the 2nd Khartiia Corps, established in April 2025.