Russian aircraft carrier crew sent to frontline in Ukraine

This move not only raises questions about the future of Russia's naval capabilities, but also reveals the extent of its manpower shortages.

Sep 22, 2024 - 16:00

Russian aircraft carrier crew sent to frontline in Ukraine

Russia has seemingly formed a mechanized battalion from the crew of its only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov.

The fact that Moscow is willing to sacrifice its naval capabilities by repurposing highly specialized personnel for ground operations reveals the depth of its manpower shortages and the strategic compromises it’s forced to make. This development indicates a significant erosion of Russia’s military readiness across multiple domains.

As reported by OSINT (open-source intelligence) researcher Moklasen on X, Russia formed a new “Frigate” mechanized battalion using Navy personnel. Initially, they were on the Kharkiv border, but have since been moved to the Pokrovsk front.

The formation of the battalion came to light after a message was shared on Russian social media platform Vkontakte, requesting help in locating personnel from military unit 78987.

Specifically, this concerned the disappearance of Oleg Sosedov, a sailor from the Admiral Kuznetsov, who went missing during a Russian operation in the Kharkiv region in July of 2024. Sosedov, was last seen during an assault on the frontier village of Sotnytskii Kozachok.

Russian sailor Oleg Sosedov is one of the Russian servicemen gone missing after a reported attack in the Kharkiv Oblast. Source: Moklasen/X.

According to UK Defense Journal, the Admiral Kuznetsov has faced numerous setbacks since being withdrawn from service for repairs in 2017. Originally planned for modernization to extend its service life by 25 years, the ship’s overhaul has been continuously delayed by accidents and technical challenges.

Despite ongoing setbacks, Russian officials remained optimistic about the eventual return of the Admiral Kuznetsov to active duty. Repair work has continued since the ship was dry-docked in May 2022, with upgrades focusing on avionics and power systems.

However, another fire in December 2022 has raised additional concerns about whether the ship will meet its revised schedule for completion. With the recent news that the crew has been redeployed to form a mechanized battalion in Ukraine, the handover of the Admiral Kuznetsov now seems unlikely to proceed without a crew.

Russian ”space troops” on the frontline

This isn’t the first time Russia has had to deploy additional specialized forces to the frontline. Due to manpower shortages, Russia also deployed a regiment of its Aerospace Forces back in August of 2024 to defend the Kursk Oblast amid Ukraine’s ongoing incursion.

Russian “space troops” have been tasked to push back Ukraine’s forces after Kyiv launched a cross-border raid on 6 August in the Kursk Oblast.

The unit, created between May and June of 2024, consists of personnel from security and logistics companies, engineers, mechanics, some officers, and servicemen from a Russian spaceport. There are also personnel from special warehouses of the Aerospace Forces and radar stations in Russia’s Voronezh region, who were previously in charge of manning Russia’s nuclear deterrent.

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