KURSK, March 19. /TASS/. The Russian military’s operation to seize the town of Sudzha in the Kursk Region turned into a nightmare for Ukrainian forces, as they were completely disoriented and chose to surrender, Lieutenant General Apty Alaudinov, deputy chief of the Russian Armed Forces’ Main Military-Political Department and commander of the Akhmat special forces unit, told TASS.
"They were horrified because even after being captured, they could not comprehend what had happened to them. For them, it [Operation Pipeline] became an absolute nightmare because all their commanders had simply fled, abandoning them and failing to even notify them of their retreat," Alaudinov said.
Operation Pipeline involved a joint assault unit comprising soldiers from the 11th Separate Guards Air Assault Brigade, the 30th Regiment of the 72nd Motorized Rifle Division, the Akhmat special forces unit, and volunteers from the Veterans and Vostok V assault brigades. The troops moved stealthily through a gas pipeline, about 15 kilometers, and emerged deep within Ukrainian defenses near Sudzha, catching enemy forces off guard.
On March 12, Army General Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces and first deputy defense minister, stated that over 600 soldiers participated in the operation, with the Veterans and Akhmat units, along with the 11th Air Assault Brigade and the 30th Motorized Rifle Regiment, standing out. Gerasimov commended "the heroic actions of the combined assault unit," which startled the enemy, caused them to abandon their defenses, and thereby aided the Russian army’s progress in the Kursk Region.