New battalions of Chechen fighters 'preparing new assault' in Ukraine

New battalions of Chechen fighters are ‘preparing new assault’ in Ukraine, claims Russian propaganda channel… despite Putin’s defeated army being ‘hollowed out’ by war and ‘incapable of new offensive’

  • Russian propaganda claims new battalions of heavily-armed Chechens forming
  • They’ll apparently be armed with heavy weapons for new offensives in Ukraine 
  • Yet British military chiefs assess that the Russian army is being ‘hollowed out’
  • Russian battalions are losing men and materiel at rate unsustainable in long term
  • Russian army making slow, incremental progress to capture Lysychansk in east

Russia is assembling new battalions with fearsome Chechen warriors to again attempt to launch a fresh assault on Ukraine, according to a notorious Kremlin mouthpiece. 

The bold claim was made by Russian-Chechen author and well-known propagandist German Sadulaev on his telegram channel, who stated that the four new heavily armed battalions will be formed to launch offensives against Ukraine. 

However, such claims of formidable new military units in the Russian army ring hollow against fresh reports that Vladimir Putin’s forces are being ‘hollowed out’ by the scale of the losses they are suffering in the Donbas and overall.

British military chiefs have assessed that the enormous expenditure of manpower and materiel by the Russian army in taking the city of Severodonetsk last week has yielded only ‘tactical successes’.

‘The Russian armed forces are increasingly hollowed out,’ came the latest intelligence update from the Ministry of Defence on Tuesday.

‘They currently accept a level of degraded combat effectiveness, which is probably unsustainable in the long term.’

Russia is assembling new battalions with fearsome Chechen warriors to again attempt to launch a fresh assault on Ukraine, according to Russian-Chechen author and well-known propagandist German Sadulaev. Pictured: Servicemen take part in a review of the Chechen Republic’s troops and military hardware at the residence of Ramzan Kadyrov, head of the Chechen Republic on Feb 25

Chechen unit, ‘Kadyrovtsy’ in Mariupol,pose for a group photo before a destroyed building. The speaker: ‘an order to destroy and purge Mariupol is fulfilled. The order of president Putin is fulfilled, the order of Kadyrov is fulfilled’

British military chiefs have assessed that the enormous expenditure of manpower and materiel by the Russian army in taking the city of Severodonetsk last week has yielded only ‘tactical successes’

Generous estimates by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine put the number of Russian tanks destroyed so far at 1,573, 3,726 armoured personnel carriers, almost a thousand artillery pieces and MLRS (multiple launch rocket systems) and 35,600 soldiers killed

Ramzan Kadyrov, head of the Chechen Republic, announced the formation of four new battalions staffed by young Chechens ready for a renewed assault on Ukraine

Generous estimates by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine put the number of Russian tanks destroyed so far at 1,573, 3,726 armoured personnel carriers, almost a thousand artillery pieces and MLRS (multiple launch rocket systems) and 35,600 soldiers killed.

It took the combined efforts of the core elements of six different armies to achieve the ‘tactical success’ of capturing Severodonetsk – a price, the MoD implies, that was not worth paying.

But such sober assessments of Russian military capabilities are no obstacle for Kremlin propaganda outfits to optimistically dream up new formations with which to turn the tide against their stubborn Ukrainian foes.

German Sadulaev, who made the claims about four new Chechen battalions in his Telegram channel, is a Russian-Chechen author and nationalist

‘According to the staff of the [Russian] Ministry of Defence, the battalion is armed with tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, armoured personnel carriers, artillery, mortars,’ Sadulaev wrote of the new Chechen units.

‘There will be everything you need for an active offensive in the first line.’

Sadulaev claims that this new ‘Akhamt’ regiment – which will belong to the Russian Ministry of Defence rather than the more lightly-armed Russian Guard – is being formed in Chechnya as announced personally by Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov.

Previous Chechen regiments only brought light arms to the battlefield and were thus tasked with cleaning up occupied territories.

‘They could not go in the first line of attack, their task was to clean up the already liberated territories of Ukraine,’ The Russian propagandist wrote. ‘And if they were used for the assault, then it was ”not very good.” 

‘Given the high degree of motivation and psychological readiness of the Chechens for war, it is clear that these battalions will become a powerful assault weapon on the Ukrainian fronts,’ Sadulaev said.

Having narrowed their battlefront from thousands of miles across its whole eastern frontier with Ukraine, Russian forces are now concentrating their combined Army Southern Group of Forces around the towns of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk.

The battle for Severodonetsk, a strategically-located town of 100,000 in the Luhansk region, raged for three to four weeks before Ukrainian troops finally gave it up the Russians after non-stop heavy artillery bombardments reduced it to rubble.

Moscow is now setting its sights on Severodonetsk’s twin city Lysychansk, just across the Donets River. 

The frequency of shelling on Lysychansk is ‘enormous’, the regional governor of Lugansk said on Wednesday.

Ukrainian forces around Severodonetsk retreated from the city as remaining in positions that have been relentlessly shelled ‘doesn’t make sense’

Ukrainian troop ride a tank on a road of the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas on June 21, 2022, as Ukraine says Russian shelling has caused ‘catastrophic destruction’ in the eastern industrial city of Lysychansk

Severodonetsk, which has been ‘reduced to rubble’ by concentrated heavy artillery shelling by the Russian army, is now in enemy hands

Lysychansk ‘is constantly being shelled with large calibres. The fighting is continuing at the outskirts of the city. The Russian army is trying to attack constantly,’ Sergiy Gaiday told Ukrainian television, later posting the video on his Telegram channel.

‘Now there is a peak of fighting. The frequency of shelling is enormous,’ he said, adding that there were still about 15,000 civilians remaining in the city.

However, their evacuation ‘might be dangerous at the moment’, he said.

The Russians ‘brought in big numbers of vehicles, enormous number of people. Shelling and attacks do not stop,’ Gaiday said.

After several weeks of fighting, during which dozens of civilians were killed, Moscow has already taken control of the neighbouring city of Severodonetsk, and is now setting its sights on Lysychansk.

It is the last major city the Russians need to take over in the Luhansk region, one of two provinces in the large Donbas region that Moscow wants to control completely.

‘Ukrainian forces are continuing to hold their positions around Lysychansk, where fighting is concentrated around the Lysychansk oil refinery, 10km south-west of the city centre,’ the MoD wrote today.

They said that Russian forces are making only ‘limited progress’ as they attempt to encircle the Ukrainian defenders from the north via Izium.

‘It is highly likely that Ukrainian forces’ ability to continue fighting delaying battles, and then withdraw troops in good order before they are encircled, will continue to be a key factor in the outcome of the campaign.’

Source: Read Full Article

Previous post Astronauts can suffer a DECADE of bone loss in a few months in space
Next post Mars rover is yet to find 'perfect' rock sample to indicate past life