The losses of the russian army on the fronts in the western part of the Zaporizhia oblast have significantly increased. This is stated in the report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) for September 19.
The russians are lacking combat-ready units.
"Russian losses have reportedly significantly increased in western Zaporizhia oblast in recent days, and the russian military likely struggles with a lack of available combat-effective units that the russian command is willing to laterally redeploy to this sector of the front", - the report states.
The experts say that Ukrainian Tavriisk Group of Forces Spokesperson Colonel Oleksandr Shtupun stated that russian forces lost 313 personnel (likely a total of killed and wounded) in the Tavriisk direction on September 18, including western Zaporizhia oblast.
Shtupun stated that this is significantly higher than russian losses during the previous two days when russian forces lost roughly 200 personnel each day.
"Shtupun stated that russian Airborne (VDV) forces are conducting defensive operations in the Tavriisk direction (likely in western Zaporizhia oblast) and that “Storm-Z” detachments with convict recruits have arrived to act as “cover” for VDV units, possibly referring to the need to cover the VDV units during a potential withdrawal", - the ISW reports.
ISW has previously observed elements of the 7th Guards Mountain VDV Division and 76th Guards VDV Division conducting counterattacks against Ukrainian forces in the Robotyne (10km south of Orikhiv) area, and ISW has previously assessed that these operations have likely degraded these VDV forces heavily.
The exprets believe that “Storm-Z” detachments are often combat ineffective and will likely provide the russian defense in western Zaporizhia oblast with marginal combat power.