- Russia's 155th Naval Infantry Brigade has suffered heavy losses while fighting in Ukraine.
- The 155th was considered to be an "elite" unit, but has been degraded, Western intelligence says.
An "elite" Russian military unit may not be as tough as it once was because its top troops are suffering heavy losses on the battlefield and getting replaced by inexperienced fighters likely only further degrading its capability, Western intelligence says.
Elements of the 155th Naval Infantry Brigade, considered a prestigious infantry unit in the Russian armed forces, have been at the front of some of Moscow's most "costly offensives" during its full-scale war in Ukraine, Britain's defense ministry shared in a Sunday intelligence update.
In the update, the ministry shared satellite imagery from February 9 that purportedly showed 10 destroyed Russian armored vehicles traveling near the eastern Ukrainian city of Vuhledar, one of several fronts where Moscow's troops appear to be pursuing advances.
Britain said the destroyed armor was "likely" part of the 155th, which has not been deployed as one large formation but rather as individual units assigned to various ground forces. The unit has been forced to undertake "some of the toughest tactical missions in the war and has suffered extremely high casualties," the intelligence update said.
Russian forces near Vuhledar mainly consist of fighters from the 155th, and a majority of these are newly mobilized soldiers. A Ukrainian official previously said the 155th's heavy losses will force the brigade to restaff for a third time, according to an analysis by the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank.
"The supposedly enhanced capability of NI brigades has now almost certainly been significantly degraded because it has been backfilled with inexperienced mobilized personnel," Britain's defense ministry said on Sunday.
Replacements for units with high attrition rates have not been bringing "a significant enhancement in terms of the training of those forces," a senior US defense official said in January. "Ill-equipped, ill-trained, rushed to the battlefield" is how the official described these troops.
Britain's defense ministry said in its Sunday update that this lack of experience among new troops is "almost certainly" becoming a burden on military leadership, which has a tendency to micromanage, curbing Moscow's capabilities by limiting this unit's operational agility.
The 155th is not the only Russian unit considered elite that has suffered severe setbacks and losses in Ukraine.
In the early weeks of the war, an elite airborne force, called the VDV, took heavy losses as Moscow failed to capture Kyiv in what it thought was going to be a quick victory. Months later, it was the GRU's 3rd Guards Spetsnaz Brigade that suffered scores of causalities fighting in the eastern city of Lyman.
Russia's 200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade, meanwhile, endured so many losses that it is considered to be wiped out; it will likely take years to rebuild. And the 1st Guards Tank Army (1 GTA) has repeatedly been beaten in battle by Ukrainian forces.
Western intelligence estimates that Russian forces may have suffered as many as 200,000 casualties while fighting in Ukraine, with up to 60,000 troops dead. The figure includes both Russia's regular military and also the notorious Kremlin-linked Wagner Group, which has sent tens of thousands of fighters — including convicts — to the front lines.