Russia's Victory Day offensive in Vovchansk turns into chaos

Russia's Victory Day offensive is turning into a bloodbath... for Russian soldiers. Within a few weeks of the 9 May offensive, a force of approximately 30,000 Russian soldiers became bogged down in the city of Vovchansk. The elite Russian air assault brigade ceased to exist.

Forbes reports on the matter. 30,000 Russian soldiers were said to have died at the hands of Vovchansk's defenders. According to a respected Ukrainian correspondent writing "Nikolaev Vanek", the 83rd Air Assault Brigade withdrew from Vovchansk after a "costly three-week deployment."

"The entire 83rd Air Assault Brigade is urgently withdrawing to the rear to restore combat capability," Vanek wrote. "There are too many casualties, they can't fight, there are too many 500s*."

*This refers to the so-called cargo 500 - a term for soldiers refusing to fight.

If these reports are confirmed, which will be difficult as Moscow tries to cover up its defeats, it will be a painful loss for the new Russian Northern Task Force, which includes about seven regiments and brigades. "And Russian casualties in Vovchansk could be much worse, as survivors from the entire battalion - hundreds of soldiers - were trapped in a chemical plant in the city centre," reports Forbes.

Russians have been in the factory for two weeks and "may not survive much longer." Ukrainian air forces are dropping precision glide bombs on the chemical plant, gradually turning it to rubble.

These reports are confirmed in a recording published by Russian soldier Oleg Vesnin, pseudonym "Fiksa". A soldier of the 83rd Air Assault Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces, recorded an appeal in which he said he is very thirsty and "can't take it any longer."

His comrades next to him are "Butcher" and "Fara," but the latter "is probably dead, and no one will look for anyone." The soldier also advised other Russians to "never sign a contract with the Russian defence ministry."

The 83rd Air Assault Brigade is or was an elite unit consisting of several brigade-sized formations in a pre-war 40,000-strong airborne corps. As recently as 2019, the brigade was practising parachute jumps to engage in combat with its light armoured vehicles.

In Ukraine, the 83rd Air Assault Brigade abandoned its parachutes and fought as a mechanised force in tracked BMD vehicles and wheeled BTR vehicles. They participated in the assault on Chasiv Yar in the spring of 2023.

When the Victory Day offensive in Vovchansk ended, Russian commanders ordered the 83rd Air Assault Brigade to move north and put the northern group of forces back into motion.

The first paratroopers of the 83rd Air Assault Brigade appeared on the front line in Vovchansk before 12 June. Around 16 June, the Russian northern task force "used 17 paratroopers from the 83rd Brigade," recalled a Ukrainian drone operator with the call sign "Kriegsforscher."

According to "Kriegsforscher," the Ukrainian 82nd Air Assault Brigade targeted the Russian paratroopers with mortars, killing four and wounding 10 soldiers.

This was a disastrous start for the 83rd Air Assault Brigade in Vovchansk.

Two weeks later, the 83rd Air Assault Brigade suffered such heavy losses that it could not continue fighting. The unit had no choice but to withdraw from the battlefield. In mid-June, the commanding officer of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, reported that the Russians were bogged down in Vovchansk.