Are the Russian airborne forces weakened?

Different indicators point to a possible weakening of the Russian airborne elements that faced the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the Novoprokopivka area.

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The general leading the Ukrainian counteroffensive along the southern front line, Oleksandr Tarnavski, has promised “good news” from the front. But what is happening there?

The Institute for the Study of War says that the tactical situation in Verbove remains unclear and that Ukrainian forces continue offensive operations in the western region of Zaporizhzhia.

The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian forces continued offensive operations in the direction of Melitopol.

A Kremlin-affiliated military blogger said Ukrainian forces reached the northern suburbs of Novoprokopivka, 13 km south of Orikhiv.

Russian sources have not yet echoed a claim by a source allegedly affiliated with the Russian Airborne Forces that Ukrainian forces would already control half of Verbove, 18 km southeast of Orikhiv.

The Institute for the Study of War has seen no evidence of this Ukrainian advance.

Are Russian airborne forces in southern Ukraine weakened?

Instead, the institute claims that elements, probably demoted, of the 42nd Motorized Rifle Division are increasingly counterattacking in the Novoprokopivka area. This suggests that Ukrainian counteroffensive operations may have demoted relatively more elite Russian airborne elements that were responsible for the counterattack in this area.

Elements of the 42nd Motorized Rifle Division would be deployed as far as Tokmak, about 20 km from Novoprokopivka, accentuating the idea that the Russian command has not deeply staffed the multi-echelon defense of southern Ukraine.

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