Russian soldiers fire on Ukrainian positions near the front line (Image: TELEGRAM )
Russia has sent elements of its most valuable military units to a major flashpoint of the Ukrainian counter offensive as they look to halt the advancing forces.
Following unconfirmed reports earlier this month that Ukraine had committed their main, western-trained heavy brigades to the attack on Robotyne, western Zaporizhzia, segments of Russia’s specialist VDV units have been arriving behind that front line.
Elements of the 76th Guard Air Assault Division, sometimes described as Russia’s single best fighting unit, were spotted near the village of Robotyne earlier this week.
Patches belonging to members of another specialist Russia unit suspected of being involved in the massacre of civilians in the town of Bucha in March 2022 were also captured by Ukraine in that direction.
It appears that these elements may have been pulled from the only Russian offensive along the 600-mile front line, which is an attack on the far eastern Ukrainian city of Kupyansk.
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Ukraine had been pushing towards Robotyne for weeks before liberating it (Image: EXPRESS)
Russia’s VDV special forces are the most elite of Vladimir Putin’s forces in Ukraine but they have had little success.
They were heavily involved in the march on Kyiv at the start of the “special military operation” and were forced to retreat after a month of Ukrainian pushback. They had believed they would liberate the capital in a matter of days, with many carrying pressed parade uniforms.
They were later rolled into the defence of Bakhmut following the Wagner Group’s withdrawal in May this year, only to concede territory.
The current offensive in Luhansk Oblast to the east, Russia’s only proactive attack on the frontline, has failed to make significant gains despite the presence of VDV forces.
But Russia’s Armed Forces will now hope that their partial redeployment to the Robotyne defences will halt the relatively rapid advance of the Ukrainian counter offensive.
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The Robotyne line of attack, heading for Melitopol to split the Russian land bridge between the Crimean peninsula and Putin’s forces to the east, is a “critical sector” of the front line, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US-based think tank.
They noted that elements of the 7th Guards Mountain VDV Division from Kherson Oblast and parts of the 76th VDV Division from the Kreminna area (Luhansk Oblast) had been redeployed to Robotyne.
It comes as Ukrainian forces liberated Robotyne and looked to be subsequently widening their point of attack to both the southwest and southeast of the village.
“Despite rather difficult fighting conditions, our forces advance in the areas of … Robotyne,” said Oleksandr Shtupin, a spokesman for Ukraine’s Tavria group of forces, the overall formation fighting in the area.
“Currently [we] are moving in the direction of Novoprokopovka around Robotyne and in the Malaya Tokmachka direction - towards Ocheratovatoye.”
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A Ukrainian soldier fires towards Russian positions (Image: GENERAL STAFF OF THE ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE )
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Mr Shtupin also claimed Russian forces in the area had taken significant losses and were bringing in reinforcements elsewhere.
Images circulated on Ukrainian social media showing two Russian unit patches for the 234th and 104th Guards Airborne Assault (GAAD) regiments, which were purportedly taken as trophies by Ukrainian special forces fighting on the southern front.
These forces are both part of the 76th GAAD and have fought in key battles during the war in Ukraine.
The 234th is suspected of involvement in the massacre of civilians in the town of Bucha in March 2022.
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