As of: January 22, 2024, 5:22 a.m
By: Patrick Mayer
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Press
Split
According to US military analysts, Russian forces want to use new tactics in the Ukraine war.
However, that already went wrong in Afghanistan.
Kiev - These are difficult weeks for Ukraine in defending itself against the attack by Russia, which violates international law.
The military pressure on our own troops remains immense.
The
Institute for the Study of War (ISW)
is now also reporting on a supposedly new, old Russian tactic that Kremlin autocrat Vladimir Putin's invading army could soon (again) focus on.
Ukraine War: ISW believes in new, old tactics of the Russian army
An unspecified Russian source indicated that air assault brigades within ground forces would be able to attempt landings behind the front lines.
Presumably by landing helicopters to drop units in quick strikes behind the Ukrainian defenders.
The tactics of the Russian army are apparently not entirely unknown.
The Russians had already done this in the fighting for Hostomel airport near Kiev at the beginning of the Ukrainian war.
In vain, as we now know.
A Mil Mi-8 transport helicopter of the Russian Armed Forces.
(Symbolic photo) © IMAGO / Pond5 Images
The battle for Kiev-Hostomel Airport was an ultimately failed airborne operation by the Russian armed forces, which was repulsed by the Ukrainian army and parts of the territorial defense on February 24th and 25th, 2022.
Russian commandos who landed had taken key positions in the early hours of February 24, but were pushed back after hours of fighting in the evening.
Ukraine War: Russian airborne operation at Kiev-Hostomel airport failed
Up to 35 Mi-8, Mi-24 and Ka-52 helicopters from the 31st Russian Guards Paratrooper Brigade were used in the first wave of attacks.
Several helicopters were shot down by the Ukrainian National Guard, as videos on YouTube and photos on social networks showed.
First, when Russian ground troops moved in from the direction of Belarus, the Russians were finally able to secure the airport.
However, on April 1, 2022, they had to vacate the strategically important airfield northwest of the Ukrainian capital.
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During the heavy fighting, an Antonov An-225, which was considered the largest transport aircraft in the world, was destroyed in its hangar.
The Russian armed forces presumably wanted to prepare for the capture of Kiev from Hostomel, but as is well known, they did not succeed.
Contrary to assumptions in Moscow.
Ukraine War: Russian Armed Forces Reportedly Training Air Assault Brigades Again
As the US think tank
ISW
also writes in a recent assessment of the situation, the Russians would “possibly train air assault brigades within combined ground units as part of ongoing, large-scale military reforms.”
This was suggested by corresponding statements from unnamed Russian military bloggers.
These air assault brigades will later “act as special forces carrying out landings and reconnaissance behind Ukrainian lines.”
The information cannot be independently verified.
According to the Ukrainian online portal
Ukrinform,
Moscow had its armed forces fly behind enemy lines in helicopters during the Soviet Afghan War (1979 to 1989).
Even then the tactic didn't work.
After heavy losses in the fight against the Mujahideen - estimates put the number of soldiers killed at around 26,000 - the Kremlin troops had to retreat back behind the borders of the Soviet Union.
(pm)