Russian forces face crushing defeat in Vovchansk offensive

Russia's Victory Day offensive is turning into a bloodbath… for Russian soldiers. Within a few weeks of launching the offensive on May 9, a force of around 30,000 Russian soldiers has been bogged down in the city of Vovchansk. An elite Russian airborne brigade has ceased to exist.

According to Forbes, 30,000 Russian soldiers were reportedly killed by the defenders of Vovchansk. A respected Ukrainian correspondent, writing under the pseudonym "Nikolaev Vanek," states that the 83rd Airborne Brigade withdrew from Vovchansk after a "costly three-week deployment."

"The entire 83rd Airborne Brigade is being urgently withdrawn to the rear to restore combat capabilities," wrote Vanek. "There are too many casualties; they can't fight; there are too many '500s'."

*The term "500" refers to soldiers refusing to fight.

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

The 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 into rubble.

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

His companions next to him are "Butcher" and "Pharaoh," but the latter "is probably dead, and no one will be looking for anyone." The soldier also advised other Russians to "never sign a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense."

The 83rd Airborne Brigade was an elite unit consisting of dozens of brigade-sized formations in the pre-war 40,000-strong airborne corps. As recently as 2019, the brigade was training to jump into battle with their light armored vehicles.

In Ukraine, the 83rd Airborne Brigade abandoned their parachutes and fought as a mechanized force in tracked BMD and wheeled BTR vehicles. They took part in the assault on Chasiv Yar in spring 2023.

When the Victory Day offensive in Vovchansk concluded, Russian commanders ordered the 83rd Airborne Brigade to move north and reinvigorate the northern force grouping.

The first paratroopers of the 83rd Airborne Brigade appeared on the front line in Vovchansk before June 12. Around June 16, the Russian northern force grouping "used 17 paratroopers from the 83rd Brigade," recalls 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 ten soldiers.

It was a catastrophic start for the 83rd Airborne Brigade in Vovchansk.

Two weeks later, the 83rd Airborne Brigade had suffered such heavy losses that it could not continue fighting. The unit had no choice but to withdraw from the battlefield. The fact that the Russians were bogged down in Vovchansk was reported in mid-June by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi.