During the liberation of Andreevka, Ukrainian attack aircraft destroyed almost all the infantry of the 72nd brigade, including officers and a large amount of equipment.
The third separate assault brigade liberated the village of Andreevka in the direction of Bakhmut and “cut to pieces” the 72nd separate motorized rifle brigade of the Russian Armed Forces. This brigade that American experts once called “a symbol of the problems of the Russian army,” because it has suffered heavy defeats three times.
“Minus” the infantry with command
As the third assault brigade said, as a result of a quick operation, the Russian garrison at Andreevka was cordoned off and cut off from the main forces. Two days later, Ukrainian attack aircraft eliminated the enemy’s brigade reconnaissance chief, three battalion commanders and almost the entire infantry of the 72nd separate motorized rifle brigade of the Russian armed forces, along with officers and a large amount of equipment.
“At the moment, the battle continues, our units continue to gain a foothold in new positions. Therefore, the specific numbers of 200x, 300x of the enemy and other most interesting details of the operation will be discussed later,” added Third Assault.
“500 corpses” and run away
The units of the 72nd Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Russian Federation repeatedly suffered heavy losses and defeats from clashes in the Third Assault. Now, after the recovery and regrouping, the enemy has experienced a total failure, they told the brigade.
Let’s recall that in early May, near Bakhmut, attack aircraft actually completely destroyed the 6th and 8th companies of this unit. Some of the invaders escaped, and many more Russian soldiers were captured.
At that time, the surviving leader of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, accused the fighters of the 72nd brigade of fleeing, which is why his mercenaries could not hold one of the flanks in Bakhmut.
“It’s official. Prigozhin’s message about the escape of the 72nd separate motorized rifle brigade of the Russian Armed Forces from near Bakhmut and the “500 corpses” of Russians left there is true. The third assault brigade thanks for the publicity of our victory at the front, ” Ukrainian troops reported at the time.
“Symbol of the problems of the Russian army”
After these events, the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) called the 72nd Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Russian Federation “a symbol of the problems of the Russian army.” Analysts recalled how the fighters of this unit twice suffered heavy defeats in the direction of Kharkov and Kherson.
According to the ISW, the 72nd Brigade was formed in the Orenburg region as part of the 3rd Army Corps, a new formation consisting mainly of volunteer battalions. Analysts note that in September 2022, the media reported that the 3rd Army Corps of the Russian Federation was deployed in the Kharkov region, and that the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the Kharkov region largely destroyed parts of the corps. Among them, obviously, is the 72nd separate motorized rifle brigade.
ISW also recalled that after the Ukrainian counter-offensive in the Kharkiv region, the surviving elements of the 72nd separate motorized rifle brigade were likely redeployed to the Mykolaiv region, where they were defeated by the southern Ukrainian counter- offensive in October 2022.
“The 72nd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade itself is a symbol of many of the force-building problems that the Russian military continues to face,” the Institute said.
Elimination of the “elite” commander
This is not the only brigade that suffered serious losses this week. Ukrainian defenders have already removed the second commander of the elite Russian 247th Guards Air Assault Regiment, Vasily Popov.
Russian blogger Yegor Guzenko was the first to report his death.
“Today, fucking night, a new regiment commander died, he just took office… Three other men died with him, and I feel sorry for them,” said Guzenko.
Later, information about Popov’s extermination was confirmed by RosSMI. According to them, this is indeed the second commander of a unit who died during the war in Ukraine: the first Colonel Konstantin Zizevsky was destroyed in the first days of the invasion, on February 26, 2022. The propagandists also added that this time about 20 soldiers died along with Popov.
Note that the 247th Guards Air Assault Caucasian Cossack Regiment is part of the 7th Guards Air Assault Division and is stationed in Stavropol. The unit suffered heavy losses at the beginning of the mass offensive: in the first week of the war, the regiment lost at least 60 people who died in the attempted attack on Nikolaev. Currently, the unit is deployed near the border of Donetsk and Zaporozhye regions.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.