“It will take years to rebuild them,” according to the Washington Post
The war in Ukraine destroyed the special forces, used by Russia for clandestine operations, so much so that it will take a decade to rebuild this force. This is what emerges from new confidential documents of the Pentagon, involved in the leak, according to the Washington Post.
Subjected to four years of grueling training, the special forces were created to carry out high-risk clandestine missions, including the apparent order to capture Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the start of the conflict. But Russian military commanders, unconvinced of the capabilities of conventional troops, also sent this elite force to the front, which was largely destroyed in the fighting, US intelligence notes. This severely limits Russia’s ability to use covert tactics in support of conventional fighting both in Ukraine and elsewhere in the world.
The documents do not report the exact number of Russian special forces killed, but the case of the 346th unit is cited which “lost an entire brigade, with 125 people remaining active out of a total of 900 deployed”. Satellite photos of the garrisons before leaving for the front and after returning to base last summer show “significant losses” for four of five brigades of Russian special forces deployed at the front. US analysts have tracked the movements of every special forces unit that has returned to base in southern Russia, save for men from the 25th regiment. Heavy losses of men and equipment “could explain why there are no clear signs of their return,” analysts note.
Source-www.adnkronos.com