The war in Ukraine caused significant damage to the special forces of the Russian Armed Forces. This is reported by The Washington Post (WP) with reference to American intelligence documents leaked into a group on the Discord platform.
At the beginning of the war, the Russian command sent special forces to the front line, as a result of which these units suffered serious losses. The documents note that those who planned ground operations had no confidence in the fighting qualities of conventional infantry.
Typically, special forces are used to carry out secret high-risk operations of high significance. Since four out of five special forces brigades of the Russian army suffered huge losses during the initial phase of the war in Ukraine, this fact subsequently significantly limited its ability to perform such tasks. It takes at least four years to train a special forces soldier.
To confirm this information, the documents contain satellite photographs of the location of the 22nd Separate Guards Special Purpose Brigade.
The first picture, taken in November 2021 before the start of the war, shows a large amount of equipment belonging to this unit. The following photograph, taken after the brigade returned from the war zone, shows significant casualties. So, for example, less than half of the Tiger armored vehicles returned to the base.
According to US intelligence estimates, the 22nd brigade and two other brigades of Russian special forces have lost from 90% to 95% of their combat capability.
The documents do not cite specific losses, but there is mention of the interception of Russian military communications regarding the 346th separate special forces brigade. According to him, out of 900 fighters, after participating in hostilities, 125 remained in the ranks.
The Americans managed to trace almost every spetsnaz unit that returned to its place of deployment in southern Russia. Only the fate of the 25th Separate Special Purpose Regiment remains unknown. As noted in the document, this fact can explain the particularly heavy loss of personnel and equipment that he suffered.
The fact that special operations forces are used for assault purposes is not hidden by Russia. In July 2022, a large video was published in the Russian media, dedicated to the assault on the Antonov airport in the Gostomel suburb of Kiev by the 45th separate guards brigade of the special forces of the Airborne Forces. As a result, Russian units suffered heavy losses in Gostomel. The occupying army was forced to retreat from the Kyiv region of Ukraine in early April 2022.