Three exhausted Ukrainian brigades received only one fresh brigade to aid them

Last year, fatigued Ukrainians entrenched themselves and prepared for Russia’s inevitable counter-attack at Robotyne, a town in southern Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Oblast, receiving reinforcements only recently, according to Forbes.

When Russian troops arrived in October, the same exhausted Ukrainian brigades that liberated Robotyne now had to defend it. Nearly six months later, those same brigades were still there and begun receiving reinforcements in the form of the 141^st Infantry Brigade, one of Ukraine’s newest combat formations, only recently.

The brigade was allegedly formed immediately after the start of the Ukrainian counter-offensive in early June 2023. It reportedly combines six rifle battalions, each probably numbering several hundred soldiers.

The first evidence that the 141^st Brigade was engaged in combat came on Saturday, when the unit released a video of a strike on Russian infantry conducted with one of its FPV-drones.

The 141^st arrived at Robotyne at a critical moment. The loss of the 47^th Brigade left the town under the command of the Army’s 65^th Mechanised Brigade and the 82^nd Airborne Assault Force Brigade. Both brigades fought continuously for nine months. And as the ground softens, the 82^nd Brigade’s only tank company struggles to keep its Challenger 2 tanks un-stuck.

The 141^st is primarily an infantry unit. The fact that it may lack heavy equipment is a reminder that, after suffering heavy losses in the offensive last summer, the Ukrainian military is struggling to equip all of its brigades evenly with tanks, combat vehicles and artillery.

However, tanks, combat vehicles and artillery are not really Kyiv’s most pressing needs. Last month, one battalion commander stated that there was a shortage of men, while the new 141^st Brigade could partially fulfil that need.

While the 141^st and other new brigades can reinforce Ukraine’s defences in several areas, they are still too few to fully replace the tired and depleted brigades. And these units will remain on the front lines until a new law is passed to replenish the thinning ranks.