The 810th Marine Infantry Brigade – Putin’s elite unit, which has been operating in Ukraine since 2014, is suffering heavy losses. Ukrainian officials report a “complete victory.”

Since 2014, Russia’s 810th Marine Infantry Brigade has been operating in Ukraine, and in recent months it has been active in the southern war front, particularly in the Zaporizhzhia region. According to reports from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), this brigade experienced significant losses on several occasions and therefore had to be reorganized.

Brigade “completely defeated”

Ukraine now says it has “completely destroyed” the brigade in question. “This brigade was completely defeated and now they have withdrawn and are being replaced by airborne troops,” Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, told The War Zone. Last year, Ukraine claimed that the brigade had lost 85 percent of its total strength. This unit, part of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, was involved in the annexation of Crimea in 2014. Recently, the fleet suffered severe attacks from Ukrainian drones and missiles.