Russia has deployed its elite FSB “Presidential Regiment” to protect the strategically important town of Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine, according to Newsweek.
Chasiv Yar, a town divided by a canal and with a pre-war population of over 12,000, is located in Donetsk Oblast and has been a focal point of Russian military efforts since March 2024. The city’s strategic position has enabled Ukrainian forces to hold the line and inflict heavy losses on advancing Russian troops.
Ivan Petrychak, spokesperson for Ukraine’s 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade, says the regiment is assisting Russia’s 98th Parachute Division in its efforts to seize the fortress-like town, where fighting has been ongoing for more than a year.
According to Petrychak, the regiment under Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), which reports directly to President Vladimir Putin, is “significantly strengthening” the Russian 98th Parachute Division in Chasiv Yar.
“These are top-level specialists. Now we have to face very intense fighting, and very accurate and precise work,” he says.
Petrychak suggested the deployment indicates that Russian forces are experiencing some difficulties in the area.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US think tank, reported on 12 May that the Presidential Regiment is “primarily responsible for fulfilling honor guard duties at state functions and guarding Russian officials, the Kremlin, and the Eternal Flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier near the Kremlin Wall.”
“ISW has not previously observed the regiment operating in Ukraine. Russian state media reported in 2014 and 2016 that the unit is approximately the size of a motorized rifle brigade and is composed of conscripts and contract soldiers,” the think tank said.
Fierce fighting continues in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts—two areas largely under Russian occupation. Since their invasion in 2014, the Kremlin has pushed for full control over both regions.
ISW assesses that Russian forces currently lack the capacity to make significant battlefield gains in the near term.
“The Russian military command’s decision to deploy the Presidential Regiment to fight in Ukraine is likely part of a larger Russian effort to intimidate Ukraine and the West through intensified battlefield activity and portray Russian forces as elite and fully capable of achieving significant successes in Ukraine in the near future,” the think-tank considers.
Fighting in Donetsk is expected to intensify as Russian forces continue their push for full control of the region.
