ISW: Ukraine making progress
Kremlin probably moves elite division from east to south
08/27/2023 1:17 p.m
According to the ISW, Ukrainian troops have overcome the “most challenging” Russian defensive position in the south of the country. Now a battle-hardened division of the Russian airborne troops is supposed to prevent a breakthrough.
In its war of aggression against Ukraine, Russia has apparently ordered elements of an elite unit of airborne troops from the east of the country to the heavily contested south. This is reported by the US think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW), citing a Ukrainian reserve officer. Accordingly, parts of the 76th Guards Air Assault Division were transferred from the Kreminna area in the Donetsk region to the area around the village of Robotyne in the Zaporizhia region.
According to the ISW, in the past it has identified elements of the 76th Division near Kreminna. However, one cannot say with certainty whether the entire division was stationed near the city and whether parts of the association have now remained there.
However, elements of almost all Russian airborne formations have now been observed in areas where the Ukrainian armed forces are carrying out their counter-offensive, analysts say. The 7th Guards Mountain Airborne Division was also fighting in southern Ukraine, while units of the 98th Guards Airborne Division, the 106th Guards Airborne Division, the 11th Guards Airborne Brigade and the 83rd Guards Airborne Brigade operated in the Bakhmut area.
“Tactically relevant” terrain gains
“The transfer of parts of the 7th Guards Mountain Air Assault Division from the Kherson region to the front in the Zaporizhia region and parts of the 76th Guards Air Assault Division from the Kreminna region to the Robotyne region indicate that the Russian armed forces to Use relatively elite units to reinforce critical sections of the front,” write the experts. If these regroupings are correct, they are an indication that Moscow lacks larger operational reserves.
According to the ISW, the Ukrainian armed forces in the Zaporizhia region are currently gaining “tactically relevant” territory. At the site of Nowoprokopivka south of Robotyne, the “most challenging” Russian defensive position has been overcome. According to US experts, Kiev’s armed forces are now advancing on the second, weaker fortified line.