Russia has deployed its elite FSB “Presidential Regiment” to protect the strategically important eastern Ukrainian town of Chasiv Yar, according to Kyiv’s military.
The regiment is assisting Russia’s 98th Parachute Division in its efforts to seize the fortress town, where fighting has been ongoing for more than a year, according to Ivan Petrychak, spokesperson for the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade.
Why It Matters
The town of Chasiv Yar, which had a pre-war population of more than 12,000, and is dissected by a canal, is located in the Donetsk region and has been the focus of Russia’s military since March 2024.
Its strategic position has allowed Ukraine’s forces to hold the town and deal heavy losses to advancing Russian troops.
What To Know
The regiment under Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), which reports directly to President Vladimir Putin, is “significantly strengthening” the Russian 98th Parachute Division in Chasiv Yar, Petrychak said.
“These are top-level specialists. Now we have to face very intense fighting, and very accurate and precise work,” he said.
Petrychak suggested the deployment signals that Russian forces are facing some trouble in the area.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S.-based think tank, said Monday that the Presidential Regiment is “primarily responsible for fulfilling honor guard duties at state functions and guarding Russian officials, the Kremlin, and the Eternal Flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier near the Kremlin Wall.”
“ISW has not previously observed the regiment operating in Ukraine. Russian state media reported in 2014 and 2016 that the unit is approximately the size of a motorized rifle brigade and is composed of conscripts and contract soldiers,” the think tank said.
Fierce fighting is ongoing in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk—two regions largely under Russian occupation. The Kremlin has been pushing for the total capture of the two regions since Russia’s covert intervention in eastern Ukraine in 2014.
The ISW said it assessed that Russian forces lack the capacity to make significant battlefield advances in the near future.
What People Are Saying
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said on Monday: “The Russian military command’s decision to deploy the Presidential Regiment to fight in Ukraine is likely part of a larger Russian effort to intimidate Ukraine and the West through intensified battlefield activity and portray Russian forces as elite and fully capable of achieving significant successes in Ukraine in the near future.
“The Russian military command may also be trying to feed any manpower available into the Chasiv Yar area due to its apparent effort to prioritize offensive operations against Kostyantynivka in recent months.”
What Happens Next
Fighting in Donetsk is expected to intensify as Russian forces continue their push to seize full control of the region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on Putin to hold face-to-face bilateral peace talks in Istanbul on Thursday. The Kremlin hasn’t confirmed whether the Russian president will attend the proposed meeting.
“President Zelensky will not meet with any other Russian representative in Istanbul, except Putin,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on Tuesday.
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