• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Ukrainian saboteurs mistakenly fire on each other, killing five: Russia

Iran Press TV

Monday, 24 November 2025 7:45 AM

Two Ukrainian sabotage units mistakenly opened fire on one another while attempting to infiltrate the strategic city of Kupyansk, in the Kharkov Region, leaving five soldiers dead, Russian security officials say.

"Near Kupyansk, two enemy sabotage groups shot each other by mistake, according to radio interceptions. It is known that they were tasked with destroying our forces in a city sector in order to break the defense," the security officials told TASS.

According to the officials, plans were also made to hoist Ukrainian flags to show that the city is allegedly partially under the control of Ukrainian troops.

They said the mishap left five Ukrainian soldiers dead and three injured. According to the Russian security officials, the incident happened because the units failed to coordinate, acted under pressure, and received poor instructions, reflecting inadequate training.

Earlier, Chief of the Russian General Staff Army General Valery Gerasimov said in a report to President Vladimir Putin that Russian forces had liberated Kupyansk in the Kharkov Region.

This comes as Ukraine and its allies have opened discussions on a US-drafted peace proposal intended to end the war with Russia, now in its fourth year.

National security advisers from the UK, France, and Germany met with Ukrainian officials in Geneva to launch the first phase of the talks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described these initial discussions with European advisers as "very constructive."

US officials are expected to join in the next stage of negotiations. US President Donald Trump has given Kyiv five days to respond to his 28-point peace plan.

President Putin has welcomed the initiative, saying it could form the basis for resolving the conflict.

The proposal requires Ukraine to give up territory, accept restrictions on its armed forces, and drop its pursuit of NATO membership.

Earlier rounds of Russia-Ukraine negotiations, including those held in Belarus, ended without progress.

Western European allies of Kyiv have already raised objections to the plan, saying they will push for changes to what they consider an agreement overly tilted in Moscow's favor.