The Ukrainian Army Reportedly Destroyed Another Russian Division

The 1st Guards Tank Army was dismantled by the Ukrainian army three weeks ago.

The Kremlin stood up a motorized infantry division a few years ago in order to protect the 1stGTA. The 144th Guards Motor Rifle Division may no longer be effective after recent losses.

The losses are unsustainable for the Russian army, and explain why the Kremlin is willing to risk widespread unrest as it forcibly drafts 300,000 men and speeds them to the Ukrainian front line. The army of the Russian Federation is falling apart.

The 144th Guards Motor Rifle Division was created by the Russian army. The two divisions are part of the 20th Combined Arms Army. There are more than 20,000 troops riding in 560 fighting vehicles and 300 T-72 tanks.

The army put the 144th GMRD and the rest of the 20th CAA in southern Russian to be closer to the Ukrainian border. The base for the 144th GMRD was located in Yelya, 150 miles from the border and another 150 miles from the city of Kyiv.

According to the think-tank in Washington, D.C., the plan was for the 144th GMRD and its sister division to help protect the tank army's left flank in a hypothetical assault on Kyiv.

The 1st GTA and its supporting divisions, including the 144th GMRD, attacked towards Kyiv in late February. The Russians were treated back across the Russian and Belrusian borders after a month.

With time and reinforcements, the 144th GMRD was able to return to the fight in the northeastern part of the country. The Russian army's secondary defensive line was manned by units of the 146th GMRD. When a dozen Ukrainian brigades punched through the Russian defenses just east of Kharkiv, the units went east across the Oskil.

The Ukrainian counteroffensive began in the first week of September, and the 1stGTA almost collapsed. Half of the T-80 tanks were lost. The survivors hoped the river would stop the Ukrainians.

It was not true that they didn't. The army crossed the river in several places. One Russian newspaper said that the 144th GMRD's units are going to immortality.

A company from the 144th GMRD took part in a doomed counteroffensive outside Bakhmut, which is 20 miles south of the Russian logistical hub in Lyman. There is a garrison in Bakhmut. The company was from the 142nd GMRD.

The Ukrainian army took just a few months to destroy the 144th GMRD, formed by the Russian army. The Russians may try to reconstitute the division with aging, unwell, unhappy draftees and very old tanks.

The Ukrainians might be able to destroy it again if the Russians are able to restore it.