Skip to content
Edit post

Military intelligence: Russia sending units from Far East to replenish losses in Ukraine

by Elsa Court and The Kyiv Independent news desk April 12, 2024 10:59 AM 3 min read
Smoke rising near the town of Chasiv Yar, Donetsk Oblast, on April 11, 2024. (Anatolii Stepanov/AFP via Getty Images)
This audio is created with AI assistance

Support independent journalism in Ukraine. Join us in this fight.

Become a member Support us just once

Russia is sending troops from far eastern military units, including its Pacific Fleet, to replenish personnel losses in Ukraine, Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) said on April 12.

Russia has lost 451,730 troops fighting in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022, according to the April 12 update from Ukraine's General Staff. The figure indicates the number of Russian fighters who have been killed or injured and are unable to return to active duty.

The BBC's Russian service, along with the Russian independent media outlet Mediazona, confirmed the identities of more than 50,000 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine earlier in April. The true death toll is thought to be much higher.

Moscow is now deploying the personnel of the Pacific Fleet and the 11th Army of the Air Force to replenish its losses in Ukraine, as well as to staff new military units, HUR said.

The Pacific Fleet and 11th Army of the Air Force "were not previously directly involved in hostilities against Ukraine," according to HUR.

The commander of the Pacific Fleet has reportedly stopped rotations to Syria and instead is sending around 2,000 personnel from Russia's Far East to Ukraine.

‘I’d be a king in Somalia with this money:’ Foreign POWs on being lured to fight for Russia in Ukraine
Adil Muhammad, a Somali, sits in a Russian military uniform among other prisoners of war (POWs) in a press conference in Ukraine’s capital in mid-March. The former infantryman was captured in combat near Marinka in Donetsk Oblast while fighting with the Russian army in Ukraine in early 2024, five

Another 400 soldiers from the 11th Army will "patch up the holes of the 155th and 40th brigades of the Russian marines, which are fighting against Ukraine and are undermanned due to huge losses," HUR said.

The soldiers are currently stationed in the city of Khabarovsk, which lies around 6,500 kilometers from Ukraine on Russia's border with China.

According to HUR, some personnel from the far eastern military units "will join the new motorized rifle brigade of the aggressor state, which is being formed in Voronezh," a city located less than 200 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.

U.S. General Christopher Cavoli said on April 11 that Russia has largely replaced its heavy battlefield losses in Ukraine, and at a much faster pace than anticipated.

"Russia is reconstituting that force far faster than our initial estimates suggested," Cavoli wrote in a statement to Congress. "The army is actually now larger — by 15 percent — than it was when it invaded Ukraine."

Russia's military has bolstered its numbers through a partial mobilization conducted in the fall of 2022, which many believe has continued in a more concealed manner since.

It has also brought prisoners, migrants, and foreign nationals into its ranks.

Lukashenko, Putin hold 4-hour meeting in Moscow
Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held a nearly four-hour meeting until late on April 11, according to Russian state-controlled news agency RIA Novosti.

News Feed

11:14 PM

Romania denies downing Russian drones over Ukraine.

Videos on social media that purport to show Romanian air defense units shooting down Russian attack drones above Ukraine are spreading a false narrative, Romania's Defense Ministry said in a statement on July 26.
Ukraine Daily
News from Ukraine in your inbox
Ukraine news
Please, enter correct email address
3:38 PM

Russian ex-deputy defense minister arrested on corruption charges.

In his previous position, former Russian Deputy Defense Minister Dmitry Bulgakov was in charge of the military's logistics chains during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. His dismissal was widely seen as a response to the logistic failures that accompanied the early months of Russia's all-out war.
11:31 AM

Сeasefire would leave 25% of Ukraine under Russian control, ambassador says.

"Many countries have proposed the idea of a ceasefire, but no one thinks about what it means. Some 25% of Ukrainian territory would remain under Russian control, which means buying time for Russia to strengthen its capabilities and resume its attacks on Ukraine," Ambassador of Ukraine to Turkey Vasyl Bodnar said.
MORE NEWS

Editors' Picks

Enter your email to subscribe
Please, enter correct email address
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required

Subscribe

* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required

Subscribe

* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required

Subscribe

* indicates required
Successfuly subscribed
Thank you for signing up for this newsletter. We’ve sent you a confirmation email.