ISW: Russian operations limited by lack of infantry.

Russia now lacks the "elite infantry" units it once relied on to conduct large-scale offensives in Ukraine, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote[1] in its Aug.

28 report. According to the ISW, the Russian military has been rapidly redeploying elite airborne units in front-line regions where Ukrainian counteroffensive troops are concentrated. On Aug.

27, an elite Russian air unit was transferred to Robotyne, likely from Luhansk Oblast. Ukrainian forces liberated[2] Robotyne on Aug.

28. The ISW said that the frequent lateral redeployment of these units indicates that their capacity is likely diminishing.

"The degradation of these forces will likely weaken Russia's ability to sustain complex defensive operations and almost certainly disrupt any Russian intent to resume offensive operations at scale," the ISW said. Such operations have previously depended largely on "elite infantry Russia now lacks," the ISW said. The Aug.

28 report also discussed Russia's missile supply. According to Ukrainian officials, Russia has replenished its stocks to some extent, but lacks the capacity to carry out a campaign of equal magnitude to its winter 2022-2023[3] offensive. "Russian forces conducted strikes with up to 100 missiles in a single strike series during the air campaign in the fall and winter of 2022, and the marginal replenishment of their missile stocks will likely prevent them from conducting an air campaign at anywhere near that scale," the ISW wrote.

However, the analysts pointed out that future Russian campaigns may rely less on missiles and more on high-precision drone strikes.

Ukraine bids farewell to legendary volunteer commander killed near Bakhmut In a scene all too familiar for central Kyiv and for Ukraine as a whole, a large column of mourning soldiers and civilians walked through the capital's streets on Aug.

28 to say goodbye to another high-profile commander killed in Russia's war against Ukraine. Serhii Ilnytskyi, call sign

News Editor

Abbey Fenbert is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent.

She is a freelance writer, editor, and playwright with an MFA from Boston University.

Abbey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2008-2011.

References

1. ^ wrote (www.understandingwar.org)
2. ^ liberated (kyivindependent.com)
3. ^ winter 2022-2023 (kyivindependent.com)
4. ^ Ukraine bids farewell to legendary volunteer commander killed near BakhmutIn a scene all too familiar for central Kyiv and for Ukraine as a whole, a large column of mourning soldiers and civilians walked through the capital's streets on Aug.

   28 to say goodbye to another high-profile commander killed in Russia's war against Ukraine.

   Serhii Ilnytskyi, call sign (kyivindependent.com)