Russia’s elite units suffer more losses in year-long battle for Vuhledar than in 10 years in Chechnya

Two elite Russian naval infantry brigades may have lost up to 40% of their pre-war strength in failed assaults on the Ukrainian town of Vuhledar, according to an analysis by BBC.

Oct 5, 2024 - 01:00

Russia’s elite units suffer more losses in year-long battle for Vuhledar than in 10 years in Chechnya

Russian soldiers, illustrative image. Photo via Wikimedia.

Elite units of Russian naval infantry suffered losses in a year of fighting near Vuhledar that are four times higher than their losses during ten years of war in Chechnya, reports BBC Russian Service.

Over 200 marines were killed in the battles for this strategic town in eastern Ukraine, according to BBC’s analysis.

Russia made at least two major offensive efforts to seize Vuhledar in October-November 2022 and January-February 2023. On 2 October, Ukrainian units had withdrawn from Vuhledar, Donetsk Oblast, after Russian forces entered the city on 1 October.

Vuhledar, a town with a pre-war population of 14,000 in Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast, is a strategically important city on high ground that Russia allegedly wants to use for further advances and offensives.

The investigation focused on the 155th and 40th Naval Infantry Brigades, which were heavily involved in attempts to capture Vuhledar. BBC states it was able to confirm at least 211 deaths from the 155th Brigade and 72 from the 40th Brigade based on open-source data.

This is almost four times more than the losses of this unit during ten years of war in Chechnya, BBC reports regarding the 155th Brigade’s casualties. The confirmed deaths include 19 officers.

The actual death toll may be about twice as high – that is, about 570 people, BBC estimates based on analysis of cemetery photos showing additional unmarked graves.

When accounting for those missing in action, who are likely dead, and the severely wounded, BBC calculates the two brigades may have lost up to 2,100 personnel in total – around 40% of their pre-war strength.

“The most intense and bloody battles for the city were in the fall of 2022 and winter of 2023,” BBC reports. “Then elite naval infantry units were thrown into the assault on the city – the 155th and 40th brigades of ‘black berets’ with the support of infantry fighting vehicles and tanks.”

The high casualty rate is indirectly evidenced by the fact that units formed from Russian prison inmates, known as Storm Z, were assigned to replenish the depleted brigades, according to the investigation.

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