The situation with the Russian invasion of Ukraine has turned around: with the successive military failures of the Russian army in Ukraine, the loss of Russian troops has also exceeded the Kremlin’s expectations. The “Washington Post” reported that the Russian Army’s 200th Independent Motorized Infantry Brigade, once considered one of the most feared units in Russia, was almost “annihilated” in the Ukrainian battlefield as an example, and the bloody fate of this unit, which has become a symbol of the failure of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plans for aggression.
The report mentioned that the Russian nuclear submarines and missiles deployed on the Kola Peninsula in the Arctic Circle were protected by the Russian Army’s 200th Independent Motorized Infantry Brigade. The best troops and weapons are sent to the Ukrainian battlefield, stationed in the NW Russia near the border with Finland. The brigade has more experience, newer equipment and better training than many other Russian units. But in exchange for “virtually destroyed”.
The Post has reviewed internal force documents they obtained and previously undisclosed details from Ukrainian and Western military and intelligence officials that the force was one of the first sent by Russia early in the war on Feb. 24. Participated in the attack on Kharkov, but by May, internal records showed that of the 1,400-1,600 troops sent to start the war, only 892 remained. Hundreds of soldiers from two battalion-level battlegroups were killed in Ukraine and the commander was seriously injured .
Other troop members that could be counted were wounded, missing, or “deserters” who refused to fight. A soldier who was assigned to the unit after the September Russian conscription revealed that upon joining the brigade, he was given a “1941 painted helmet and plateless vest” and described “the unit as in one state of decay”. Documents obtained by The Post show that the 200th Brigade was routed in Ukraine’s lightning counter-offensive northeast of Kharkiv months into late May.
The report analyzed that the collapse of the 200th Independent Motor Rifle Brigade of the Russian Army partly reflected the difficulty of the assigned combat operations and the excellent performance of the Ukrainian Army. The wind, strategic misjudgment and the The Kremlin’s inability to accurately grasp Russia’s true strength and the enemy’s military forces are also causing President Vladimir Putin’s aggressive plan to fail.
Pekka Toveri, a retired general in Finland’s military intelligence unit, said: “Their strength is now less than 60 percent and they are forced to rely on vastly insufficient reinforcements.” Kharkov ended in September, and Pavlo Fedosenko, commander of the Ukrainian 72nd Mechanized Brigade that fought in it, said: “That brigade has lost everything. Gone.”
Fedosenko went on to say that the Russian officers of this unit were killed or wounded and 70% of their equipment was destroyed, almost “annihilated”. Now, the scale of the troop loss has led a European military official to believe it “cannot be considered a fighting force.” Russia does not routinely disclose the number of troops it has lost, and even if it does, the figure is considered hugely underestimated by the outside world. The UK and US defense ministers have both estimated that more than 100,000 Russian soldiers may have been killed or wounded in the past 10 months since the Russian army invaded Ukraine.
In a war that was disastrous for much of the Russian military, the disintegration of the Russian Army’s 200th Independent Motorized Rifle Brigade was more conspicuous because it was less trained than any other unit sent to the Ukrainian battlefield Better, newer equipment, more experience. Despite these advantages, the brigade suffered heavy casualties in the ensuing months of fighting. Shortly after the invasion of Ukraine, the unit came under attack, resulting in the loss of large numbers of soldiers and the abandonment of large numbers of armaments.
However, the 200th brigade is not a special case: many other high-profile units of the Russian army also suffered large numbers of losses and reduced troops. The elite Russian VDV (VDV) paratroopers suffered numerous setbacks and heavy losses in the first weeks of the invasion. One unit commander was killed and another unit was ambushed while patrolling the Kiev area. In addition, Ukraine recently launched a lightning counterattack in the Kharkov region, and the well-known reconnaissance company “GRU 3rd Guards Special Forces Brigade” also suffered heavy losses in the battle of Leman.
