By KYIV. May 11 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Russian occupation troops are exhausted and severely limited in their ability to defend themselves against local counterattacks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Bakhmut region (Donetsk region), according to a report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
“Pervasive issues with Russian combat capability, exacerbated by continued attritional assaults in Bakhmut area, are likely considerably constraining the ability of Russian forces in this area to defend against localized Ukrainian counterattacks,” the report notes.
“The 72nd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade itself is emblematic of many of the endemic force generation issues constantly faced by the Russian military,” experts note.
Ukrainian sources claimed on May 9 that Ukrainian forces destroyed the 6th and 8th companies of the 72nd Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 3rd Army Corps near Bakhmut and advanced 2.6km along a 3km frontline in the area, although ISW has not observed visual confirmation of these reported wider Ukrainian advances.
A prominent Russian milblogger claimed on May 10 that the Ukrainian forces tried to advance further in the “Luhansk People’s Republic” 4th Motorized Rifle Brigade’s zone of responsibility in Bakhmut area following Ukrainian counterattacks on May 9 but that formations of an unspecified Russian paramilitary company (PMC) prevented a Ukrainian breakthrough.
The Russian Ministry of Defense, in turn, said that the Russian Airborne Forces are holding back the actions of Ukrainian forces on the flanks around Bakhmut.
Previously, ISW experts have assessed that reports of Ukrainian counterattacks throughout Donetsk region appear to be part of an ongoing pattern of localized and limited counterattacks.
The report notes that this 72nd Russian brigade, which was formed mainly from volunteers in August 2022 in Orenburg region (Russia) as part of the 3rd Army Corps, was badly destroyed in Kharkiv region during the counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the fall of 2022.
Ukrainian media suggested that the surviving elements of the 72nd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade may have redeployed to Mykolaiv region following the Kharkiv region counteroffensive, where they once against suffered losses during Ukraine’s southern counteroffensive in October 2022.
Western analysts, in turn, suggest that some units of the 72nd brigade of the Russian Federation were recently transferred to Bakhmut area.
“The Russian military command’s apparent commitment of elements of a formation that has suffered two successive defeats to the Bakhmut axis alongside already killed Wagner elements likely offer Ukrainian forces opportunities to exploit with limited counterattacks,” the report says.
