The left bank of Kherson region is becoming more difficult. Why the Russian Federation sends to Ukraine the 104th Airborne Division
According to British military intelligence, the formation will act on the occupied part of the Kherson region. In August 2023, Russia wrote about plans to reproduce the 104th Division in the Airborne Troops by December 1. The new military units were thinking of deploying on the basis of the 31st Airborne Assault Brigade, which participated in the landing at Antonov Airport in Gostomel.
It should be noted that the consolidated units of the 104th Division participated in armed conflicts in Georgia, Azerbaijan and Chechnya. In August-September 1992, the 345th Regiment was transferred to Abkhazia and taken out of the division. The losses of the invaders in Ukraine forced the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoig to start renewing the unit. The 337th Regiment and the 52nd Artillery Brigade have already been included in the formation.
The commander of the Russian Air Force Mikhail Teplinsky ahead of a number of problems related to the training of the military. Ordinary commanders are unlikely to bring the 104th Division to the "elite standards" of the landing troops of the Russian Federation, suggesting British scouts.
According to the Colonel of the Armed Forces in the reserve, the instructor pilot Roman Svitan, the task of the Russians is quite clear: they lack the strength and means in the Kherson region and in the Crimea to restrain the offensive of the Armed Forces. "In addition, they take the strength from different divisions, deploy at the entrance to the Crimea, where they have one of the main problems. Also, the invaders increase the presence on the left bank.
The Armed Forces there are just developing tactical bridges that can go into operatives," he explains Focus. The names of military units and division numbers do not specifically testify, since the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation can deploy on the left bank of the Kherson region and a department of 10 people, the expert emphasizes. According to Russia's military standards, the division is an association of several regiments, and it should be from 10 to 20 thousand people.
The quantitative advantage of Russian troops does not allow them to conduct successful fighting on the left bank of the Kherson region. From the 104th DShV Division to the Aprikosivka and Big Delicate Division, the 337th Airborne-assault Regiment has already been sent. And before that, 2 months ago, the units of the 7th DShV Division were transported there, says the coordinator of the group "Information Resistance", military expert Alexander Kovalenko.
It is paradoxical that the grouping of Russians from almost 68,000 people does not completely control even small areas where the infantry of Ukraine's defense forces operate mainly, he says. Such difficulties in the occupiers are explained by the inability to normally establish logistics and apply the complexes of Reb against Ukrainian drones. "The route 2206 they cannot pass quietly - our drones prevail. There are similar problems with artillery," Kovalenko explains.
Not having the ability to use the technical components in full power, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation try to win the maximum saturation of personnel. This resembles the situation in the Zaporozhye region, when all the lines of defense of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation were filled with human resources and forced the Armed Forces to slow down the pace of promotion between the villages of Verbove and Novoprokopivka, adds the expert.
The group of the Russian Federation "Dnipro" is staffed by a maximum of 40%. If the tank battalion contains from 30 to 60 tanks, then in occupation groups - twice less. However, in the Zaporizhzhya region in the Armed Forces, the case with logistics went better, and on the left bank - solid vulnerability. "If you suddenly happen to the Kerch Bridge, the situation for the Russians will deteriorate much," Kovalenko summarized.