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☆ Russia's using its elite paratroopers in an unusual way to hold the line, leaving the force 'airborne in name only,' war analysts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Russia is relying on its elite paratroopers, the VDV, to defend against Ukraine's counteroffensive. AdvertisementAdvertisementRussia has turned to its elite paratroopers, the VDV Airborne Forces, to help defend against Ukraine's battlefield advances. As so-called "elite" Russian forces have taken losses, they have at times been backfilled with poorly-trained replacements, degrading the overall capability of the unit. Since those figures were released, VDV units have been transferred to support Moscow's defensive efforts in the face of Ukraine's pressing counteroffensive. The VDV is one of several elite units to suffer severe casualties during the war as Moscow has relied heavily on them.

Persons: —, Sergei Shoigu, Shoigu, Diego Herrera Carcedo, Gen, Mikhail Teplinsky Organizations: Ukraine's, Service, VDV Airborne Forces, Russian, Institute for, Victory, Russian MoD, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Paratroopers, Rifle Brigade, 155th Naval Infantry Brigade Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Washington, Russian, Alabino, Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, Kherson, Luhansk, Kyiv

☆ Russia is throwing away elite forces it will likely need later, like paratroopers, trying to blunt Ukraine's counteroffensive
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russia has sent its elite paratroopers to curb Ukraine's advancing counteroffensive. But in doing so, Moscow appears to be throwing away soldiers it may need later. Russian VDV units have been transferred from the Kherson and Luhansk regions to support Russia's defensive efforts in Zaporizhzhia and Bakhmut, respectively. The VDV is just one of a number of so-called "elite" Russian units that have been battered over the course of the war. AdvertisementAdvertisementThe VDV were part of early operations and were heavily utilized at the start of the war, which Russia largely botched.

Persons: ISW, Efrem, Moscow's Organizations: VDV Airborne Forces, Service, Institute for, 155th Naval Infantry Brigade, AP Locations: Russia, Wall, Silicon, Ukraine, Moscow, Washington, Kherson, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Zaporizhzhia region, Kyiv

☆ Russian paratroopers are getting thermobaric tank-mounted 'flamethrowers' to make them more deadly after a string of failures, UK intel says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russia's paratroopers are getting a powerful new weapon in Ukraine, the UK MOD said. But the UK MOD said the move suggests Russia wants it to play a larger role in any new offensive. The UK Ministry of Defence said in an intelligence update on Tuesday that, according to Russian media, paratroopers were receiving TOS-1A thermobaric multiple launch rocket systems. Russia's efforts to reconstitute the paratrooper force mirrors its efforts to rebuild other once elite units that suffered significant losses. Earlier this month the UK MOD highlighted Russian efforts to repair the reputation of the 155th Naval Infantry Brigade of the Pacific Fleet.

☆ Russia is trying to cover up the decline of a once elite unit that was rendered 'combat ineffective,' UK intel says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russia is trying to fix the reputation of a once elite brigade hammered in Ukraine, the UK MOD said. The military is worried the brigade's reputation reflects how military leaders are seen, it said. In an update published Monday, the UK Ministry of Defence said the once celebrated 155th Naval Infantry Brigade of the Pacific Fleet had been rendered "combat ineffective" multiple times when fighting in Ukraine. Experts told Insider that the brigade once had an elite reputation, but that this had been eroded by repeated defeats. Russia's military overall has experienced the same issues.

☆ How an elite brigade of Russian marines was repeatedly mauled in Ukraine and became an emblem of the invasion's failures
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

An elite brigade within Russia's military is a shadow of itself after taking huge losses in Ukraine. In many ways, the journey of the 155th reflects the larger struggles of the Russian military, which entered Ukraine expecting a quick victory but has instead suffered embarrassing setbacks. Baev said that its members are supposed to be better trained and more professional than other parts of the Russian military, which can rely on conscripts. And, as the fighting dragged and more marines died, the Russian military kept reinforcing the 155th with fresh recruits, which brought its own problems. Yet earlier this month Ukraine claimed that commanders in the brigade were refusing to fight near the city of Vuhledar.

☆ An elite Russian brigade of 5,000 soldiers has been destroyed and reformed as many as 8 times after heavy losses, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The same Russian brigade has been destroyed and reconstituted 8 times since the start of the war. The Russian 155th Naval Infantry Brigade suffered heavy losses in attempts to take Vuhledar. At one point the entire brigade, which consisted of 5,000 troops, was reported to be destroyed near Vuhledar. Dmytrashkivskyi estimated at the time that Russian forces were losing 150-300 marines a day near the coal-mining town. Some of these military bloggers have criticized the Russian military command for ordering ineffective human-wave style frontal assaults in Vuhledar, according to ISW.

☆ Putin's top troops are being 'decimated' as Russia relies too much on so-called 'elite' forces to wage war in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Several so-called "elite" Russian units have suffered heavy casualties on the battlefield in Ukraine. The 155th is only the latest so-called "elite" Russian unit to face serious setbacks on the battlefield. An abandoned Russian military tank left in the Ukrainian city of Balakliia after Russian Forces withdrew from the Kharkiv region on September 15, 2022. So I think it's much more of a blow to Russia's ground force's combat power than it is to their reputations." Russia's military leadership has at times faced criticism and even domestic outrage over its decision-making.

☆ An 'elite' Russian unit has been weakened by severe front-line losses, and the replacements appear to be making things worse, Western intel says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russia's 155th Naval Infantry Brigade has suffered heavy losses while fighting in Ukraine. The 155th was considered to be an "elite" unit, but has been degraded, Western intelligence says. It's the latest high-profile Russian unit to see a high number of causalities on the battlefield. SERGEY BOBOK/AFP via Getty ImagesThe 155th is not the only Russian unit considered elite that has suffered severe setbacks and losses in Ukraine. Western intelligence estimates that Russian forces may have suffered as many as 200,000 casualties while fighting in Ukraine, with up to 60,000 troops dead.

☆ A Russian marine who survived bitter fighting in Vuhledar says soldiers left alive are being treated like deserters: 'It would have been better if I had been captured'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Russian marine who survived a major battle in Vuhledar said survivors are treated as deserters. There were just eight survivors in one company, he told Russian media outlet 7x7. The marine, part of the 155th Marine Brigade of the Pacific Fleet, told Russian media outlet 7x7 that "it would have been better if I had been captured and never returned." So far things have not gone to plan, according to Russian military bloggers, Ukrainian officials, and reports of the battle. Ukrainian military drones have also captured the scenes of chaos, including Russian tanks running into minefields and being blown up, CNN reported.

☆ Putin's new recruits filling gaps in a decimated Russian unit keep bunching up into a 'pile of people' in battle, making them easy targets, Ukrainian troops say
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The small mining town of Vuhledar is the site of ongoing fighting as Russia aims to take more territory. Ukraine's 72nd Mechanized Brigade, an armored unit, has been leading Vuhledar's defense, aided by members of the country's 68th Jaeger infantry brigade, The Guardian reported. "We can see very clearly that they're poorly trained," a senior lieutenant who goes by the call sign of Tykhyi, told The Guardian. The new recruits often "gather in one pile of people" making them easy to target, Tykhyi, 23, told The Guardian. One Ukrainian estimate cited by The Guardian suggested Russia is losing 17 soldiers for each slain Ukrainian defender.

☆ Russian soldiers drafted to Ukraine were told they wouldn't have to actually fight anyone, report says. Many of them were swiftly killed.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russian soldiers drafted for the war in Ukraine were told they would not face combat, per the NYT. A drafted Russian soldier bemoaned "the destruction of the Russian people by their own commanders." In September, about seven months into the war in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the partial mobilization of the country's military reservists. A drafted Russian soldier told the paper about a day in October when he witnessed many of his fellow soldiers being killed near the eastern Ukrainian town of Pavlivka. The latest revelations about drafted soldiers being misled echo previous reporting on Russian soldiers being duped about the invasion.

☆ Russian troops have turned to Wikipedia to find instructions on handling weapons and used 1960s-era maps in the country's invasion of Ukraine: NYT
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A New York Times investigation detailed Russia's blunders as they launched an invasion of Ukraine. "Never in its history has Russia made such stupid decisions," a retired Russian general told The NYT. Russian President Vladimir Putin displayed a high degree of confidence in the country's military when he launched the invasion of Ukraine in late February. But nearly ten months later, Russia has been unable to defeat the Ukrainian military and has found itself shunned and isolated from the West. The Russian military, which was seen as a formidable force before the conflict, in actuality had been "severely compromised" by longstanding corruption, per the report.

Since the early days of the invasion, Mr. Putin has conceded, privately, that the war has not gone as planned. “I think he is sincerely willing” to compromise with Russia, Mr. Putin said of Mr. Zelensky in 2019. To join in Mr. Putin’s war, he has recruited prisoners, trashed the Russian military and competed with it for weapons. To join in Mr. Putin’s war, he has recruited prisoners, trashed the Russian military and competed with it for weapons. “I think this war is Putin’s grave.” Yevgeny Nuzhin, 55, a Russian prisoner of war held by Ukraine, in October.

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