Russia sends elite units to border with Ukraine: ISW names reasons

Russia has deployed units of two special forces brigades of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to the border areas of Kursk Oblast. According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), in this way, the Russian Federation is trying to consolidate part of the Ukrainian troops in the border areas and disperse them in critical areas of the contact line.

Source: ISW

Details: The Ukraine’s National Resistance Center announced on 19 May that units of the 3rd and 22nd Special Guards Brigades were deployed in the village of Tyotkino, Kursk Oblast of the Russian Federation, to prevent subversive activities of Ukrainian resistance and raise the morale of Russian troops.

According to ISW, such Russian deployments in the border areas are most likely an attempt to consolidate part of the Ukrainian troops in the border areas and disperse them in critical areas of the contact line.

ISW noted that earlier units of the 3rd Guards Special Purpose Brigade were stationed near the town of Kreminna in Luhansk Oblast, and units of the 22nd Guards Special Purpose Brigade were located near the city of Orikhiv in the west of Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

"It is unclear why Russian leadership may have made the decision to remove such elements from active sectors of the frontline to Russian rear areas, and it may be possible that these units suffered previous losses in recent operations and have been withdrawn and redeployed in order to rest and refit. The deployment of these units to border areas is unlikely to have the desired informational or operational effects," ISW said.

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