Russian special forces walked inside a gas pipeline to strike Ukrainian units from the rear in the Kursk region, Ukraine’s military and Russian war bloggers reported, as Moscow moves to recapture parts of its border province that Kyiv seized in a shock offensive.

Ukraine's armed forces shared footage late on Saturday that it said showed its soldiers attacking elite Russian forces "moving along a gas pipeline branch in an atttempt to gain a foothold" near Sudzha, about 6 miles from the Ukrainian border.

By Guy Faulconbridge MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian special forces crept miles through a major gas pipeline near the town of Sudzha in an attempt to surprise Ukrainian forces as part of a major offensive to eject Ukrainian soldiers from the western Russian region of Kursk,