Very high losses for two ‘elite’ Russian brigades in new Putin attacks, say British defence chiefs

Two “elite” Russian naval brigades have been hit by very high losses after Vladimir Putin ordered a wave of advances in Ukraine, British defence chiefs said on Monday.

They stressed that Russian generals were coming under growing “political pressure” to deliver battlefield successes to coincide with the one-year anniversary of Putin’s invasion on Friday, February 24.

They also believe that “tensions” within the Russian leadership will rise if Putin’s spring offensive fails.

In its latest intelligence update, the Ministry of Defence in London said: “Russia continues to pursue several offensive axes in eastern Ukraine: Vuhledar, Kremina, and Bakhmut.

“Casualties reportedly remain high, particularly in Bakhmut and Vuhledar.

“Specifically, the ‘elite’ 155th and 40th Naval Infantry Brigades have sustained very high losses in Vuhledar and are likely combat ineffective.”

The briefing added: “Russian forces are likely under increasing political pressure as the anniversary of the invasion draws near. It is likely that Russia will claim that Bakhmut has been captured to align with the anniversary, regardless of the reality on the ground.

If Russia’s spring offensive fails to achieve anything then tensions within the Russian leadership will likely increase.”

The US, Britain, Ukraine and their allies are fighting an information war against Russia so their briefings need to be treated with caution but are far more believable than the propaganda issued by the Kremlin.

Ukrainian defence sources have claimed that the 155th brigade, possibly made up of 5,000 military personnel, had been largely destroyed while seeking to storm the coal-mining town of Vuhledar, in the Donetsk province in the eastern Donbas region.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden was due to visit Poland on Monday to mark the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, which said it was inflicting heavy losses on Putin’s forces in Europe’s biggest conflict since World War Two.

Ukraine’s army was also believed to be suffering heavy losses and more than 40,000 civilians are reported to have been killed, often by indiscriminate Russian shelling and air strikes.

There has been little change on the vast frontline in recent months as both sides prepare for offensives expected in the spring, Russia boosted by thousands of conscripts and Ukraine fortified with Western battle tanks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that Russia had suffered “extraordinarily significant” losses near the town of Vuhledar in the eastern Donbas region, which Moscow claimed to have annexed in September.

“The situation is very complicated. And we are fighting. We are breaking down the invaders and inflicting extraordinarily significant losses on Russia,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address.

Mr Zelensky referred to several towns where fighting has been focused for months, saying “the more losses Russia suffers there, in Donbas - in Bakhmut, Vuhledar, Marinka, Kreminna - the faster we will be able to end this war with Ukraine’s victory”.

Russia’s defence ministry said on Saturday that its forces had captured Hrianykivka, a village in the eastern Kharkiv region that is well to the north of the hottest part of the front, which is around Bakhmut.

Ukraine’s General Staff on Monday said its forces “repelled Russian attacks in the areas of the Hrianykivka village”, but that the Russians continued to heavily shell the area with artillery.

Ukrainian officials have urged US Congress members to press Biden’s administration to send F-16 fighters to Kyiv, saying the aircraft would boost Ukraine’s ability to hit Russian missile units with US-made rockets.

The lobbying came over the weekend on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in talks between Ukrainian officials, including Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, and Democrats and Republicans from the Senate and House of Representatives.

Mr Biden last month said “no” when asked if he would approve Ukraine’s request for Lockheed-Martin-made F-16s.

But administration officials, speaking on Sunday, said the United States should focus on providing weapons that can be used immediately on the battlefield, rather than fighter jets that require extensive training.

Even so, they did not rule out providing F-16s.

“Discussions will continue over the course of the next few weeks and months,” US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on CNN.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Sunday that he and Mr Biden would discuss possibly increasing US troop presence in Poland and making it more permanent.