The reputation of the Russian military has been damaged by its struggles in Ukraine.
The Russians have failed to achieve their primary objectives despite having qualitative and quantitative advantages.
The VDV, the Russian military's elite airborne force, was at the center of the invasion that kicked off on February 24, and its paratroopers have suffered heavy losses in several high-profile failures.
One unit within the VDV, the 331st Guards Parachute Regiment, is considered elite in its own right and has taken heavy losses in Ukraine, including its commander, Col. Sergei Sukharev, who was killed in mid-March.
The Russian plan focused on acting quickly and violently. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his advisers thought of a war that would last 48 to 72 hours and capture key Ukrainian urban centers.
Airborne forces are trained to fight with speed, surprise, and aggression. The invasion of Ukraine was a key part of the Russian military's plan.
One of the main Russian targets in the early hours of the invasion was the airport in Hostomel. The air assault on the airport was conducted by VDV.
They were able to capture it, but it was short-lived as the Ukrainians retaliated and took the airfield.
The goal of the attacking force in airborne operations, such as airfield seizures, is to expand the perimeter so that the defending force cannot hit the airfield with rockets and other indirect-fire weapons.
The former officer, who still works with the US government, said that by doing so, you allow airfield ops to continue and reinforcements to pour in.
Failure to expand the airhead in the initial hours of an airfield seizure welcomes disaster. You could use it as a ruse to distract the enemy and take his attention from another part of the battle space, but it would also mean you are sacrificing the airborne force, which, by the way, are some of your more competent units. It is up to commander and operational situation to determine.
The Russian VDV forces failed to expand the airhead during the Hostomel attack. They were stuck on the airfield and were not able to push out the Ukrainian forces.
The Ukrainian defenders placed obstacles on the runways to prevent Russian transport aircraft from reinforcing the initial wave of VDV forces.
Russian commanders failed to reinforce the paratroopers on the ground with additional helicopter-borne forces.
VDV forces, which are distinguished by the V marks on their vehicles, have been involved in several other failures.
In early March, an entire VDV patrol was destroyed by Ukrainian special operators in the suburb of Irpin.
According to residents of the community where the 331st Guards Parachute Regiment is based, the unit lost between 39 and 100 troops in the fighting around Kyiv.
The VDV is an elite organization within the Russian armed forces and it is distinguished by its troops.
It is a branch of the Russian military that is considered a strategic reserve. The VDV is there when there is a contingency. The VDV was one of the first Russian forces that was sent in to act as a peacekeepers.
The VDV has a larger role than airborne units in the US and other Western militaries.
The commander of Russia's airborne troops was in 2015. The force would grow to 60,000 in the next few years, according to Vladimir Shamanov. There are several divisions and brigades.
The US Army has less than 20,000 soldiers. The US military has only one dedicated paratrooper unit, the 82nd Airborne, and other units conduct airborne operations.
The role of Russian airborne forces is different from that of the US. Both formations are rapid-response forces designed to strike fast and capture key objectives, but VDV forces are more mechanized than US airborne units.
Russian VDV units use tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and armored personnel carriers a lot. T-72B tanks, BMD-2 infantry fighting vehicles, and other vehicles were lost during the fighting in Ukraine.
The LAV-25, a wheeled all-terrain armored infantry fighting vehicle, is not the same as the Russian one.
VDV units are more independent than their Western counterparts.
After seizing a target, the 82nd Airborne Division would rely on ground reinforcements to relieve them. The VDV would not rely on other units to relieve them after they seized their objective.
A defense journalist specializing in special operations, a Hellenic Army veteran, and a graduate of the University of Baltimore, are some of the things that Stavros Atlamazoglou is.
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