An elite unit of Russian marines suffered heavy casualties after a fierce battle in the Kursk region, in another major blow to Putin’s army, according to new reports.
Ukraine stunned the Kremlin after launching a raid into Russia on August 6, taking the Russian army completely by surprise
Zelensky’s troops claim to have captured over 400 square miles of Russian territory, along with 93 settlements.
The Kremlin has struggled to contain Ukraine’s incursion, despite sending reinforcements to the area.
One unit dispatched to counter the offensive was an elite regiment of Russian Guards from the Marines.
The 810th Marine Brigade, however, soon got into serious trouble after being ambushed in a forest by Ukrainian soldiers near the village of Kauchuk – some 16 miles from the city of Lgov.
A Russian pro-war blogger with close connections to the army reported that the unit suffered many deaths, as well as wounded.
“The 810th brigade reports that they got into a fight in the forest area near Kauchuk. Many 200 and 300. We will take revenge,” said Northern Channel on Telegram.
(200 and 300 are Russian military codes for killed and wounded respectively.)
According to Deepstate, an open-source investigative site mapping the war, Kauchuk is marked as a combat zone.
Ukraine has destroyed and damaged three main bridges over the Seim River in recent days, as it presses home its attack.
Its forces are reported to be just 2.6 km from the river and if they reach it then they could cut off some 3,000 Russian troops.
It comes as Ukraine claimed to have destroyed a Russian S-300 air defence system near the town of Novoshakhtinsk in Russia’s Rostov Region.
The attack was carried out by units of the Ukrainian Navy in coordination with other units of Kyiv’s Defence Forces.
“Based on the results of objective monitoring, explosions were observed at certain aiming points,” a statement by from Ukraine’s army said.
“The accuracy of the strike is being further investigated,” they added.
Ukraine’s General Staff noted that Russia has been using S-300 systems to attack Ukrainian cities, destroy residential buildings and terrorise civilians.
