The brigade of the Russian marines, which was defeated by the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Vugledar in the Donetsk region, is considered "elite" only on paper, but in reality it is staffed by inexperienced recruits.

Military observer, reserve major and veteran of the Russian-Ukrainian war Oleksiy Hetman told about this in an exclusive interview

with

TSN.ua.

"From the Far East, the 155th brigade of marines. There are servicemen who have a certain specialty left there - they were trained, these are professional servicemen, at least they learned something. But it is impossible to make a Navy SEAL out of an 18-year-old boy, even in a movie, and in life and preparedness. Therefore, on paper, it is a powerful force - it is a special forces, an elite. But in reality - the shelling begins, the assault group goes, it is fired upon, from this very 155th brigade, it does not disperse, does not hide in the folds of the terrain, but takes out shovels, starts to dig frozen soil to dig a trench. This means that people are simply not ready for war. It is to our advantage, let them continue to send such people," he said.

As the expert emphasized, "our task is to bleed the enemy in these battles and make him almost incapacitated so that our counteroffensive is successful."

We will remind you that near Vugledar, the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed a large column of Russian equipment that stormed Ukrainian positions.

The video got into the Internet.

Russian Defense Minister Shoigu: "Currently, combat operations in the Vuhledar area are going successfully."



So true.

pic.twitter.com/oCxcRRwK2l

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) February 10, 2023

As SBU colonel Roman Kostenko said, the Russians kept their equipment for a long time and tried to storm the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with infantry, but then decided to make a breakthrough.

Since the fields near the city are mined, the column of equipment of the occupying army set out on the road and became an easy target for the Ukrainian artillery.

As a result, the Armed Forces destroyed a tank battalion of the Russian Army.

The occupiers lost 103 units of military equipment, including 36 tanks, near Vugledar and Avdiivka in just three days of the offensive.

Military expert Mykhailo Prytula estimated the losses of the occupiers near Vugledar at about 6,000 people in a week.

Most of them were destroyed at a long distance, without even having time to see a single Ukrainian soldier. 

Experts at the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) believe that the failure at Vugledar undermined Russian confidence in the ability to launch a new major offensive.

Read also:

  • The military explained the strategic importance of Ugledar: "We will have to rebuild the defense"

  • A knocked-out Russian tank ran away from the battlefield near Ugledar with its back on fire: video

  • The Russians are trying to surround Vugledar: the city was under heavy fire for eight days