Russian elite special forces have suffered devastating losses in Ukraine - media
The secret documents, which in April 2023, showed the pilot of the National Guard of the US Air Force, there were estimates of the Pentagon on the course of the full -scale war. It is noted that from the first hours of large -scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian special units of the special forces were on the front line and appeared in all important battles, in particular, in Mariupol, Kharkiv, Kherson, Donbass, Liman, and Kiev.
According to the Pentagon, all, except for one of the five brigades of the special forces, who went to the war on February 24, 2022, by the end of the summer of 2022 suffered significant losses. According to the agency of military intelligence, only 125 remained in one of the individual brigades of the special forces of the special forces.
It is also noted that during the Ukrainian counter -offensive one of the largest units of the Russian Federation, the third Guards Brigade of the Special Forces of the GRU, was "surprise captured" during the retreat and forced to fight defensive battles in Lyman. 75% of their composition. The grave losses suffered by the elite Russian units undermined their "strategic utility" for many years to come. Moscow may take up to ten years to restore the special forces to pre -war.
This will be a serious rollback "for Russia's strategic capabilities in conducting special operations against virtually equal opponents. " It should be noted that as of October 2024, according to Western estimates, the loss of Russia in Ukraine was estimated at 115,000 killed and 500,000 wounded. The number of dead has increased significantly in the last half of a year.