(RoyalPatriot.com )- According to an analysis released last week by the UK Ministry of Defense, Russia has committed around 65 percent of its entire ground combat forces to its invasion of Ukraine. But even with this show of force, Ukraine’s defense, bolstered by a growing supply of weapons from the West, has hampered Russia’s advance.
When the invasion began in late February, Moscow committed over 120 battalion tactical groups to the effort. But since that time, more than a quarter of the units have been rendered “combat ineffective.”
The analysis from the UK Ministry of Defense concluded that it is Russia’s elite military units, like the VDV Airborne Forces, who have suffered the highest levels of attrition during the fighting. British defense intelligence officials surmise that it could take years for the Russian military to reconstitute these forces.
The staggering Russian losses could account for the Kremlin’s decision to shift its priorities from conquering the whole of Ukraine to focusing its efforts on the disputed Donbas region in the east.
A senior Pentagon official said last week that Moscow hasn’t addressed the central problems with its invasion of Ukraine, namely a lack of leadership from the highest levels, mismanaged logistics, and basic combat tactics.
The official said these are problems that existed before Russia invaded Ukraine.
And the problems continue.
According to the Associated Press, on Thursday, Ukraine’s military announced that its forces have made some gains near Kherson and Mykolaiv in the south and have repelled 11 Russian attacks in the eastern Donbas regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
We are just days away from Russia’s Victory Day celebrating the Soviet army’s defeat of Nazi Germany. Russian President Vladimir Putin is hoping to be able to declare Victory in Ukraine on that day. But with his troops making only slow progress and Ukrainian forces continuing to put up a strong fight, his hopes may be dashed.
