larry johnson has some russian tales to tell here;

I have had an interesting series of meetings since arriving in Moscow last Wednesday. I am getting the chance to have in-depth chats with a variety of military and political leaders. I attended a dinner tonight with Lt. General Apti Alaudinov, who played a major role in destroying the Ukrainian force that invaded Kursk last year.

The operation led by General Apty Alaudinov involved Russian forces using a gas pipeline as a clandestine route to recapture the town of Sudzha in the Kursk region in March 2025. The operation began when Russian special forces, studying the map and the Ukrainian gas shutdown, identified a strategic tunnel created by Ukraine at the gas pipeline, the main route used for Russian gas transit to Europe. They then undertook a meticulous plan to infiltrate the area through this pipeline, which involved digging a tunnel and preparing it for an assault.

The operation was launched on March 8, 2025, at dawn, when several units navigated through the pipeline, emerging behind Ukrainian lines. These units, including a significant force of reportedly between 600 and 800 men, moved stealthily through the pipeline—some traveling nearly 12-15 kilometers depending on the exit point—using oxygen supplies, ammunition, and food stored along the way. Under the command of Alaudinov, Russian forces marked themselves with blue tape to deceive Ukrainian forces into misidentifying their units, a tactic that could be considered a form of perfidy, possibly a war crime..........more.........