Russia may be forming air assault brigades for landings in Ukrainian rear - ISW

The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said this in its new report, according to Ukrinform.

Russian sources noted that this is not a new concept for the Russian military and drew parallels to Soviet operations in Afghanistan.

One Russian source noted that air assault brigades within ground formations would be able to carry out landings in Ukrainian near-rear areas without parachutes, presumably by landing helicopters in near-rear areas for the rapid deployment of personnel, as was the case during the initial fighting for Hostomel airport near Kyiv on February 24, 2022.

Russian sources claimed that such an air assault brigade, the 49th Separate Air Assault Brigade, is already active in the Zaporizhzhia direction as part of the 58th Combined Arms Army (Southern Military District).

Air assault brigades exist within the modern Russian army as part of the Russian Airborne Forces (VDV), so the suggestion that Russian ground formations may be trying to implement these formations is noteworthy, ISW analysts said.

ISW has previously observed instances of the formation of reconnaissance and assault brigades within combined arms formations and assessed that the creation of such specialized formations is meant to respond to specific tactical challenges that Russian forces have faced thus far in Ukraine.

“The deployment of air assault brigades in isolation from the wider VDV force structure, however, will likely mean that these specialized air assault brigades will be used as yet another means of conducting attritional infantry-led frontal assaults on Ukrainian fortified positions in the short term,” the ISW said.

As Ukrinform reported, the Defense Forces of Ukraine eliminated nearly 370,000 Russian invaders from February 24, 2022, to January 14, 2024, including 840 occupiers in the past day alone.