Expert about breaking through the Russian border near Belgorod: the Kremlin will have to withdraw up to 60 thousand soldiers
If Russia wants to prepare to repel further raids, it will have to withdraw 50,000 to 60,000 troops from Ukraine.
The fighters of the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion were able to conquer more territory in one day than Wagner mercenaries did in a whole year in Bakhmut, military expert Thomas Tayner noted.
Western military analysts considered the breakthrough of the sabotage group into the Belgorod region as evidence that the Russian defense line is extremely vulnerable, writes BILD. So, Tainer said that now “Russia has no defense capability, because all the military is busy in Ukraine.”
“There are no divisions or brigades between the Ukrainian border and Moscow, except for a few local units and border guards – there is nothing left. The Ukrainians, of course, noticed this,” Teiner said. He clarified that in the first hours after the start of the sortie, the saboteurs met with practically no resistance.
At the same time, Professor Carlo Masala of the Bundeswehr University of Munich called the raid in the Belgorod region “another proof of Putin’s weakness and his inability to wage this war.” “The fact that small but partially mechanized troops were able to advance into the border region shows how bad Russian border security has become,” he said.
Tainer assumes that saboteur attacks from Ukrainian territory will continue further. In another case, if Russia wants to prepare to repel further raids, it will have to withdraw 50,000 to 60,000 troops from Ukraine.
The expert separately notes that the Kremlin found itself in an extremely disadvantageous situation. “From a grandiose plan to conquer Kyiv in three days, they have now reached the point where they cannot defend regional centers like Belgorod. This is a complete disaster for Putin,” Teiner said.
Raid “Legion” in the Belgorod region – the main thing
At the beginning of the week, on May 21, 2023, Russian volunteers from the “Russian Volunteer Corps” and the Legion “Freedom of Russia” made a so-called raid into the Graivoronsky district of the Belgorod region.
In Ukrainian intelligence, the breakthrough of the Russian border by volunteers was called a “special operation” by the Russians themselves.
In Russia, they report the destruction of dozens of armored personnel carriers, but the volunteers themselves refute data on any losses due to clashes.