Forbes: Ukrainian Assault Airborne Brigade Moved To Break Near Robotyne With Challenger Tanks

The Russian army is running out of reserves.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine are sending reserves into battle to break through the Russian defences in the Zaporizhzhia region and advance towards Melitopol, cutting the “land bridge to Crimea”

According to Forbes, the 82nd Assault Airborne Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, numbering two thousand troops equipped with British Challenger tanks, as well as Marder and Stryker infantry fighting vehicles, was landed near Rabotyne in the south of the Zaporizhzhia region.

The 82nd Brigade, as well as the 46th Brigade, were among the last large formations that the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine kept in reserve, writes Forbes. Fresh reserves engagement will allow the Ukrainian forces to significantly increase firepower in one of the main sectors of the counteroffensive. The Russian defence is about to crumble.

Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said on Wednesday, August 16, that after fierce fighting in recent days, the Armed Forces of Ukraine managed to recapture Urozhaine, where one of the fortified areas of the Russian military was located.

“Offensive operations are ongoing,” Hanna Maliar wrote on Telegram. She added that the Armed Forces of Ukraine “are gaining a foothold there”.

The Russian army, meanwhile, may be running out of reserves, analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote last week. This, according to ISW, is evidenced by the fact that the generals have to transfer forces along the front line instead of pulling up reserves from the rear.

This means that the Ukrainian offensive has led to a "significant degradation" of the Russian defence and the depletion of forces on a "critical sector of the front," ISW experts wrote. “The lack of operational reserves means that the Russian command will have to deploy more forces along the front line if they want to strengthen certain sectors,” they noted.

On August 11, ISW, showing satellite imagery, confirmed a "tactically significant" advance of the Ukrainian forces in the Zaporizhzhia region.