Russians deploy soldiers from Aerospace Forces into Kursk Oblast – media

18 August 2024

Due to a manpower shortage, the Russian command has sent in soldiers from the Russian Aerospace Forces who were assigned to motorised rifle units to defend Kursk Oblast, according to a source cited by the Vazhnie Istorii media outlet.

Source: Vazhnie Istorii (Important Stories) media outlet, founded by investigative journalists from Russia, citing open source data 

Quote: “The ‘aerospace infantry’ was deployed to defend Kursk Oblast. Due to the lack of personnel in the motorised rifle units, they took soldiers from the Russian Aerospace Forces units, including these from nuclear warning stations and squadrons of heavy bombers.”

Details: According to reports, Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) soldiers formed a motorised rifle regiment in May or June as a border cover group. Mid-July was when the VKS infantry landed in the border territories, many weeks ahead of Ukraine’s Armed Forces offensive.

The publication’s source stated that the unit consisted of engineers, mechanics, soldiers from the guard company, and a few flight crew officers.

They were assigned to infantry units, coming from various airfields: Ukrainka in the Altai Krai, Belaya in Irkutsk Oblast, and Engels in Saratov Oblast. Heavy Tu-22M or Tu-95 bombers are stationed at each of these airbases, from which missiles are fired into Ukrainian cities.

Additionally, there are personnel from Voronezh radar stations, staff from special VKS warehouses, and servicemen from one of the Russian cosmodromes. These stations are positioned to alert people in the event of a nuclear attack near Russia’s borders.

The article claims that “aerospace infantry” is already losing men. For example, 22-year-old Ilya Romanov vanished during the fighting near Korenevo, Kursk Oblast. He was assigned to the infantry after serving in the 28th Arsenal of Aerospace Forces in the Tambov district, which is a location of greatest secrecy where Russian satellites and missiles are kept.

Vazhnye Istorii writes that on the evening of 9 August, motorised infantry from the VKS were most likely part of the equipment convoy that was destroyed by a HIMARS strike close to Rylsk in Kursk Oblast. On this very day, 22-year-old VKS Sergeant Vyacheslav Bondarenko, who had been transferred from the heavy bomber air base in Amur Oblast, sustained injuries.

Background: Ukraine’s operation in Kursk Oblast illustrates how Ukrainian forces can use manoeuvre warfare to compensate for Russia’s superiority in manpower and equipment, writes the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

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https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2024/08/18/7470859

10 comments

  1. “Due to a manpower shortage, the Russian command has sent in soldiers from the Russian Aerospace Forces who were assigned to motorised rifle units to defend Kursk Oblast….”

    Wow! First, sending teenagers to war and now another measure that mafia land has taken from the other Nazi dictator, Adolf Hitler.
    In the closing days of WWII, as Germany was facing an increase man-power shortage, and as its air force was largely in ruins, the country put its surplus aircrews into Luftwafe Feld Divisionen – air force field divisions to help fill the gaps at the frontlines.

      • Interesting that Kursk is the main railway between Belarus and Moscow. The two main stops between are Kursk and……Kharkiv. So stopping the trains through Kursk will cut off supplies to both Moscow and the occupiers in Kharkiv. That should help with the end result.

        • There are three bridges in front of Kursk, between Kursk and Kharkiv. One is a railroad bridge and the other two are road bridges. I bet if Ukraine had the damned permission, they would already be destroyed.

  2. In other words, the Kremlin are scraping up anyone with a pulse and sending them to their death. I suspect most of these aerospace soldiers have never fired a gun in anger, and won’t last too long in Ukraine.

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