Russia deploys its best fighting unit to the front lines in desperate bid to halt Ukraine advance as counter-offensive achieves breakthrough

Russia has sent one of its most elite combat units to the front lines in a desperate attempt to halt Ukraine’s advance.

As Kiev’s counter-offensive has made slow progress since it was launched earlier this year, Ukraine reported a breakthrough on Monday, saying its troops had liberated the southeastern settlement of Robotyne.

His forces are now trying to move further south, probably with the ultimate goal of reaching the Sea of ​​Azov and thus splitting the Russian “land bridge” connecting the mainland of the invading country to occupied Crimea, providing a vital supply route .

The Ukrainian army said last week that its forces had raised the national flag in the strategic settlement but were still conducting cleanup operations.

In response, reports say Moscow has sent its 76th Guard Air Assault Division (GAAD) — sometimes described as Russia’s best combat unit — to the region, with elements reported last week sighting near Robotyne.

As Kiev’s counter-offensive has made slow progress since it was launched earlier this year, Ukraine reported a breakthrough on Monday, saying its troops had liberated the southeastern settlement of Robotyne.

In a daily update on the situation in Ukraine, the Institute for the Study of War — a Washington-based think tank — said Saturday it had seen evidence of “lateral redeployment of elements of the 7th Guards Mountain VDV Division from Kherson Oblast to the Cherson. front line in Zaporizhia Oblast, and elements of the 76th VDV Division from the Kreminna area to the Robotyne area.

This, the report said, suggests “that Russian forces may be using relatively elite units to reinforce critical sectors of the front.”

Yesterday, it reiterated the report on the redeployment of elite units, adding: “Russian forces have deployed a significant amount of equipment, effort and manpower to maintain the range of defensive positions that Ukrainian forces are currently penetrating.”

It added: “It is unclear whether the Russian armed forces will maintain the advantages they have had if they cannot commit the same level of resources and personnel to these subsequent layers of defence. The next Russian layer of defense is nevertheless very likely to pose significant challenges to the Ukrainian advance.”

Images circulating on Ukrainian social media appeared to show two Russian unit patches from the 234th and 104th Guards Airborne Assault regiments – both part of the 76th GAAD. The patches were reportedly taken as trophies.

Russia’s 234th regiment is believed to have been involved in the Bucha massacre, a mass killing of Ukrainian civilians by Russian soldiers in March 2022.

Extensive coverage by the Associated Press and other news media exposed how the regiment carried out an attack ‘cleaning operation’ in the suburbs of Kiev, where Ukrainian residents were arrested, tortured and killed.

Elements of the 76th GAAD had been fighting in Kremmina in the Luhansk region – about 150 miles northeast of Robotyne.

Their sighting around the southern village suggests that some have moved.

Ukrainian soldiers from the Separate Assault Battalion ‘Skala’ enter the disputed village of Robotyne, in Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region, in this screenshot taken from a handout video released Aug. 25

Ukrainian forces raise the national flag in the Robotyne settlement, Zaporizhia region, Ukraine, in this screenshot from a social media video released on Aug. 23, 2023

Ukrainian military fires small multiple missile systems at Russian troops

The reports come at a time when Ukrainian forces believe they have breached the most difficult Russian defense line in the south and will now accelerate their advance, a commander who led troops to Robotyne said last week.

“Robotyne has been liberated,” Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said by the military.

The settlement is located ten kilometers south of the frontline town of Orikhiv in the Zaporizhia region, on a major road towards Tokmak, a Russian-occupied road and rail hub.

The capture of Tokmak would mark a milestone as Ukrainian forces move south towards the Sea of ​​Azov in a military strike designed to split Russian forces after the full-scale invasion of Moscow in February 2022.

Kiev generals want to reach the town of Melitopol, some 40 miles southwest of Robotyne, to cut through Russia’s “land bridge” – part of Ukrainian territory currently occupied by Moscow’s forces that connects Russia with Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Vladimir Putin in 2014.

Maliar told Ukrainian television that Kiev forces, which began their counter-offensive in early June, were now moving southeast of Robotyne and south of nearby Mala Tokmachka.

Ukraine’s success in retaking Robotyne, which Russia has not confirmed, follows media reports of a meeting this month of senior NATO military leaders and Ukraine’s top general on resetting Ukraine’s military strategy .

Ukrainian forces are also battling Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, and progress has been slower than widely expected in the counter-offensive, having run into large Russian minefields and trenches.

Maliar described the situation on the battlefield in the east as “very hot” over the past week.

She said Russian troops were assembling and regrouping fresh troops there, and Moscow was striving to deploy its best troops there.

Ukrainian forces had continued to advance south of Bakhmut, she said, referring to the nearly destroyed eastern city captured by Moscow’s forces in May after months of heavy fighting that left tens of thousands dead.

A Ukrainian soldier walks near a destroyed Ukrainian tank near the village of Robotyne, Zaporizhia region, August 25

A Ukrainian soldier operates an FPV drone from its positions on the frontline near the village of Robotyne, Zaporizhia region, August 25

She added that Ukrainian troops had recaptured 1 square kilometer around Bakhmut in the past week, and that Russian troops had not made any advance.

Meanwhile, during Russia’s latest frequent airstrikes on Ukraine, two people were killed overnight when a vegetable oil plant was hit in the central Poltava region, the region’s governor said.

Russia said it shot down a Ukrainian drone flying towards Moscow in the early hours of Monday in an incident that briefly disrupted flights over the Russian capital.

Reuters could not immediately confirm the situation on the battlefield from reports of the latest attacks.