The annual celebrations of Russia’s Airborne Forces (VDV) Day on 2 August 2023 have been overshadowed by an apparently unsanctioned disclosure of the scope of the casualties the elite force has suffered in Ukraine, British intelligence said in its daily report.
“The video was quickly deleted from the Russian MoD’s official channels. He did not comment on how many troops had been killed or were too seriously wounded to return to duty.”
However, extrapolating Teplinksy’s figures endorses the assessment that at least 50% of the 30,000 paratroopers who deployed to Ukraine in 2022 have been killed or wounded, UK intel concluded.
Russian troops burning their own dead in occupied Melitopol to hide massive losses – General Staff
“In a recorded address for VDV Day, the VDV’s Commander-in-Chief General Colonel Mikhail Teplinsky said that 8500 paratroopers had been wounded and later returned to duty or had refused to leave the front line at all.”
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- Russian daily casualties down by 30% in April following heavy losses in Jan-Mar 2023 – UK intel
