Russian Elite Unit 'Absolutely Annihilated' After 100 Days of War: Report
ZOE STROZEWSKI | 6/3/22 AT 1:27 PM EDTAn elite airborne Russian military unit has seen significant losses amid the war in Ukraine, so much so that one military analyst said that it was "absolutely annihilated" at one point in the offensive, according to The Moscow Times.
The Times tracked and reconstructed the movements of the 31st Guards Air Assault Brigade over the past several months in a report released as the Russia-Ukraine War hit 100 days Friday. The unit was among those sent to help gain control of the Ukrainian town of Hostomel, a suburb of Kyiv, in early March, according to an assessment from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) cited by the Times. In the resulting conflict that saw Ukraine fighting to hold off Russia's advancement, "Russia's elite forces were absolutely annihilated," said Nick Reynolds, a military analyst at the British think tank Royal United Services Institute.
The 100-day mark of the war is notable because when Russia initially invaded Ukraine on February 24 with its focus on the capital of Kyiv and surrounding areas, U.S. officials predicted a swift Russian victory. But Ukraine launched a passionate counteroffensive, eventually spurring Russia to switch its focus to the eastern Donbas region, home to the self-proclaimed People's Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, which Russia has recognized as independent. The reported heavy losses in the elite Russian airborne regiment reflect a larger deterioration of the country's image as a superior military power throughout these months of war.
Before the unit's purported advance on Hostomel in early March, the 31st Guards Air Assault Brigade was "likely" at the Hostomel military airport fighting against Ukrainian forces, according to the February 24 ISW assessment. Ukraine was ultimately successful in preventing Russia from seizing full control of the airfield. . . .
https://www.newsweek.com/russian-military-losses-31st-guards-air-assault-brigade-ukraine-1712686
The 36th Guards Brigade was indeed the lead assault unit assigned to capture Hostomel airport at the start of the invasion. An account can be found here:
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/06/03/are-there-even-any-left-100-days-of-war-in-ukraine-for-an-elite-russian-unit-a77877On a remote plain on the Belarusian-Ukrainian border the morning of Feb. 24, hundreds of paratroopers from Russia’s 31st Guards Air Assault Brigade boarded helicopters they thought were bound for a training ground in western Belarus.
But once the units were airborne, senior officers turned to the men to tell them that they were actually at war with Ukraine.
Instead of Grodno, they entered Ukrainian airspace on their way to Hostomel airport near the capital city of Kyiv.
“The troops were f*****g shocked, people turned gray, especially considering we took fire in the air,” said Nikita Ponomarev, a paratrooper later captured by the Ukrainians. . .