READ MORE <\/strong> ‘Weakened’ Russia ‘running out of elite airborne infantry units in Ukraine’<\/strong><\/p>\n President Volodymyr Zelensky said following a Moscow drone attack on July 30: \u201cGradually, the war is returning to the territory of Russia – to its symbolic centers and military bases, and this is an inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Michael Bociurkiw, global affairs analyst and senior fellow at The Atlantic Council, Putin\u2019s war machine is in a \u201csorry state\u201d.<\/p>\n He told Daily Express US: \u201cThat the drones are able to so easily and frequently penetrate what\u2019s meant to be to most heavily protected airspace in Russia says plenty about the weakness of their air defences.<\/p>\n “It\u2019s quite shocking. But then again, the lack of preparedness and general incompetence of Russian forces at the start of the war revealed the sorry state of the Putin war machine.”<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a damning report has claimed Putin now lacks the “elite infantry” units his forces once needed to perform large-scale offensives in Ukraine.<\/p>\n The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said that the Russian army has been rapidly redeploying elite airborne units across fronline areas where Ukrainian counteroffensive troops grouped.<\/p>\n An elite Russian air unit was transferred to Robotyne on August 27, but the town was liberated by Ukrainian troops just one day later.<\/p>\n According to the ISW, Russia\u2019s strategy indicates that its resources and manpower are weakening.<\/p>\n We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info<\/p>\n Don’t miss… <\/strong> It said: “The degradation of these forces will likely weaken Russia\u2019s ability to sustain complex defensive operations and almost certainly disrupt any Russian intent to resume offensive operations at scale.”<\/p>\n It added that these kinds of operations have previously relied on “elite infantry Russia now lacks”.<\/p>\n Daily Express US previously reported that the Kremlin has allegedly targeted millions of untrained recruits to secretly enrol in the military in an act of “complete desperation”.<\/p>\n According to Hamish de Bretton Gordon, a weapons expert and former British Army officer, these young men are far from trained elite fighters, but \u201cbullet catchers\u201d who won\u2019t last more than a week on the battlefield.<\/p>\n He told Daily Express US: \u201cI understand from an excellent source that the Russians have for some time identified four million people across Russia who they think will not be noticed if they disappear.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are people of low intellect, they are people who are drug addicts, alcoholics, homeless, because they need to feed this meat grinder. It is shocking.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is not the elite going. They are looking for people who just won\u2019t be missed and it is unbelievably cynical.\u201d<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/78\/590x\/secondary\/Putin-Russia-urkaine-4931822.jpg?r=1693294813886\")
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