The Kremlin is increasingly involving irregular units in offensive operations in Ukraine - British intelligence
Kyiv • UNN
The Russian Ministry of Defense is increasingly centralizing command and control over irregulars, which likely makes it easier to use them in offensive operations in Ukraine, for which they are ill-suited, resulting in proportionately higher casualties than regular Russian units.
The Russian Ministry of Defense is increasingly centralizing command and control over irregular forces, which is likely to facilitate their use in offensive operations in Ukraine. This is stated in a report by the British Ministry of Defense intelligence, UNN reports .
Details
The report notes that in February 2023, the Russian military created a "volunteer corps" that united more than 20,000 mercenaries, reservists and former prisoners serving in numerous irregular units under a single system of management and control.
According to British intelligence, since the creation of the Volunteer Corps, irregulars have been increasingly used in offensive operations for which they are ill-suited. Russia's irregulars are mostly light infantry units that lack integrated artillery or air support, making them more vulnerable than Russia's regular forces.
Thus, over the past 9 months, Russian irregular units have experienced a proportionally higher level of losses than Russian regular units,