Ukraine’s Interior Ministry says eight new “assault” brigades are “fully trained”. They would include at least 32,000 fighters and must be deployed as part of the upcoming Ukrainian counter-offensive.
Ukraine is preparing its weapons for the counter-offensive it intends to lead soon. Eight “assault” brigades totaling at least 32,000 fighters have been created to take part in the attempt to reconquer the territories in the east and south of the country invaded by Russia since the start of the war, announced on Wednesday the Ukrainian Interior Minister Igor Klymenko.
In an interview given to the Russian Independent News Agency Interfax and relayed by the British daily The Guardianthe Minister announced that these brigades, which must support the regular army, are ready and that others should see the light of day soon.
“The brigades are fully formed. They are eight in number. We plan to form additional brigades, because there is a demand and we have the means”, detailed Igor Klymenko during the interview.
“The task of each of these brigades is to carry out appropriate offensive assault actions with the defense forces during military operations”, he further explained, while the assumptions concerning the date and the extent of the attack counter-offensive operations are multiplying. The Minister specifies in this respect that the new brigades will all be part of the “Offensive Guard”.
Between 32,000 and 60,000 fighters
A brigade has between 4,000 and 5,000 fighters, according to information from military analysts relayed by the New York Times, which makes it possible to establish that the eight brigades announced would be made up of between 32,000 and 40,000 combatants. Confidential Ukrainian documents which have leaked and which have been consulted by the newspaper refer to twelve brigades being set up, which would increase the total of these forces to a number between 48,000 and 60,000. Igor Klymenko did not confirm any figures for “security” reasons.
According to the minister, the eight newly formed brigades are being “rearmed”. They will undergo “two to three weeks” training while new units are formed. Here too, the leaked Ukrainian documents report an even more advanced state of readiness: six brigades were to be ready by March 31 and three others by April 30.
According to information from New York Times, these nine brigades out of twelve are formed by several NATO countries, including the United States and France. The training of Ukrainian soldiers in France, probably on a military base in Var, among others, has already been reported by BFM Var.
In October 2022, the Minister for the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu announced to the Parisian what 2000 soldiers from Ukraine would soon be assigned to French units, without specifying a place or duration.
Experienced military, police, volunteers…
These newly formed brigades, sometimes on the basis of already existing brigades, are made up of heterogeneous troops due to their varied experiences and levels of training.
“The ‘backbone’ of the brigades which aims for success (sic) was formed precisely from soldiers and police officers with experience in combat operations”, specifies the Ukrainian Minister of the Interior. These experienced fighters have the task of “training volunteers, people joining the brigades for the first time”. The command posts will finally return to certain “experienced fighters”.
Leaked Ukrainian documents also estimate that equipping nine brigades requires more than 250 tanks and 350 other vehicles. Among them, it is likely that we find Leopard tanks provided by several European countries and by Canada. NATO said that 98% of the Western weapons promised have been delivered, including 1,550 armored vehicles, 230 tanks and a significant number of ammunition.
Preparations for the counter-offensive “are coming to an end”, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on Friday. “”The equipment has been promised, prepared and partially delivered. In a broad sense, we are ready”, he summarized. According to informed observers and the Western press, the start of the operation is imminent. In Russia, the celebrations of May 9, which mark the victory of the USSR over Nazi Germany, were canceled in several regions.
