In the Kharkiv region, Russian military personnel, attempting to escape under the pressure of Ukrainian forces near Kupyansk, resorted to the cynical tactic of using civilians as a human shield. According to the 2nd Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine 'Khartia', the occupiers forcibly removed civilians from the Kupyansk community and drove them into an underground gas pipeline to secure their retreat.
Incident Chronicle and Operation Details
Reconnaissance drones of Ukrainian units recorded the movement of the column on September 27, 2026. The published video materials clearly show nine people, including children, elderly citizens, and a person on crutches. Concurrently, draft-age men in civilian clothes are moving alongside them, who, according to military experts, are disguised Russian servicemen trying to break out of the engagement zone under the cover of vulnerable categories of citizens.
Tactics of Using Utilities
The specified underground gas pipeline is actively used by the invaders for the covert movement of personnel and assault groups deep into settlements. In this case, civilians have to cover a distance of more than 10 kilometers through the abandoned pipe, which exits into a forest area from where people are planned to be evacuated to temporarily occupied territories. Ukrainian fighters refrained from opening fire, realizing the threat to the hostages' lives, which the enemy command had anticipated.
International Law and War Crimes
Such actions grossly violate the basic norms of international humanitarian law. According to Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, the forced transfer of the civilian population is strictly prohibited, and the Rome Statute classifies this as a war crime. Furthermore, using people as a human shield is explicitly forbidden by Article 28 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and Article 51 of Additional Protocol I.
Information Security and Provocations
The command of the 'Khartia' corps warns of upcoming information stuffing by Russian media structures that may use the footage to distort facts. All documented materials have been transferred to specialized departments to conduct an official investigation into the war crimes of the Russian army in the Kharkiv region .
