Report: Russian elite brigade completely wiped out in Ukraine Several injured after Asake concert in London

One of the best special brigades of the Russian army appears to have been largely wiped out in the war in Ukraine. According to a report in the Washington Post, the personnel of the 200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade had been cut in half just a few weeks after the start of the war.

The newspaper refers to internal army reports that have now come to light, which include the number of personnel. Of the 1,400 soldiers belonging to the two battalions, fewer than 900 remained by May. The commander was seriously injured and some of the fighters listed as active are hospitalized or missing. The unit had already been sent to Ukraine at the beginning of the war and first attacked Kharkov. The troops had already been pushed back in May. The authenticity of the documents had been confirmed by Western secret services.

Important part of the Russian Northern Fleet

The brigade is actually based in Murmansk and is part of the Russian Arctic defense. According to the newspaper report, their duties also include guarding the Kola Peninsula, where Russian nuclear missiles are said to be stationed. The brigade is also part of the Northern Fleet, which is of strategic importance: it includes submarines armed with nuclear missiles. They must be able to go to sea in the event of an attack on Russia and carry out a nuclear attack from the sea.

The 200th Brigade was part of the surveillance of these Russian military installations near the border of Finland and Norway. But in 2014 she was ordered to go to the Donbass to fight in Luhansk – with moderate success. She was well equipped: she apparently had 40 tanks, including the modern T-80 models, and 36 howitzers, as well as a missile defense system. What is left of it is unclear.

The obvious failure of the top brigade in Ukraine is probably also due to reasons common to many Russian units at the beginning of the war. There was little food and not enough fuel. Morale was not the best, said journalist Thomas Nilsen, who visited soldiers there a few years ago. They didn’t even know they were so close to the NATO border until he pulled out a map. There were reports of corruption and neglect of facilities. Putin’s pre-war decision to leave even senior advisers in the dark left little time for commanders to prepare troops, let alone coordinate attack plans with other units. Finally, elite fighters underestimate Ukraine’s resilience.

In June, Ukrainian units stopped firing near Kharkiv for a while – to give the impression that they were out of ammunition. The Russian soldiers, according to Ukrainian commander Taras Shevchenko, felt safe and were lying in the sun. Then the Ukrainian units struck.

The Ukrainian commander at the time, Pavlo Fedosenko, told the Washington Post, “There is nothing left of the brigade. It has been wiped out.” Western sources also confirm this to the newspaper. Attempts have been made to replenish the brigade, including Marines from the Baltic Fleet and logistics experts who had no combat experience, Western officials told the paper, according to the Washington Post. Apparently, some soldiers of the units resurfaced in fighting in Luhansk, according to the documents found. 20 of them were injured.

The decimated troops are not only a problem for the combat power of the Russian army in Ukraine, a hole has been created in their actual location. According to Israeli media reports, Russia has moved bombers to the border with Finland. A former soldier of the 200th Brigade told the Washington Post: “In the Murmansk region, we now have our borders open. (…) No one is left.”