Elite Russian special forces suffer devastating losses in Ukraine - The National Interest
Illustrative photo: Elite Russian special forces suffer devastating losses in Ukraine (Getty Images)
Russian elite military units have suffered serious losses during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Their main task was to eliminate the Ukrainian leadership, reports The National Interest.
According to the media, the Russian military command intended to use these units to achieve an easy victory in Ukraine. Specifically, when Russian paratroopers stormed the Hostomel airport near Kyiv in early 2022, special forces were supposed to attack Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other high-ranking officials.
However, the attempt to take out Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian leadership failed. Therefore, Russia continued to use elite special forces in the war. They have been seen in battles near Mariupol, Kherson, Lyman, Kharkiv, and Kyiv.
It is also stated that all but one of the five special forces brigades suffered significant losses by the end of summer. In particular, one of the separate special forces brigades had only "125 personnel active out of 900 deployed." This indicates that the unit lost nearly 90% of its combat personnel.
