Training Russia’s elite soldiers took years and cost millions of dollars. MOSCOW. In half a year of war in Ukraine, the Russian army lost thousands of soldiers. It is not only the number that is important, but also what kind of people die, writes the Russian editors of the BBC. According to her, Russia lost more than 900 elite specialists whose training took years and cost millions of dollars. The article continues under the video advertisement The article continues under the video advertisement According to Western and Russian experts, Russian all-army units were not prepared for offensive actions. Therefore, tasks normally performed by infantry had to be performed by special forces units, marines, and paratroopers. It was these elite units that suffered significant losses. Dozens of military pilots also lost their lives. According to experts, Russia will have a problem with replacing these losses. Elite units suffered significant losses. On September 1, the BBC managed to find out from open sources the death of 151 soldiers of the GRU special forces. Almost every fourth of them was an officer. According to published obituaries, the 22nd Guards Brigade of Special Forces suffered the greatest losses. At least 30 soldiers were killed, including four officers and company commanders (the brigade has only four special forces companies). According to American analyst Michael Kofman, there are an average of 3.5 wounded for every Russian soldier killed. At least temporarily, the 22nd brigade could lose 130 soldiers. Other units of the GRU special forces suffered similar losses. According to experts, the worst replaceable ones are the losses of special forces officers. In the case of soldiers with the usual expertise, such as a grenade launcher or mortar, a replacement can be trained in a few weeks, more rarely in a month or two. But a killed special forces company commander can only be replaced by an equally capable officer. The training of a lieutenant takes at least four years. In order to command a company as a captain, he needs experience and another four years. In the Soviet Union, the GRU special forces were in charge of the most important secret operations. In Russia, the special forces were given other tasks, because many army units proved to be unprepared for combat. In the first years of the Chechen war, the GRU special forces often served as an all-army reconnaissance. During the attack on Grozny, they were included in the attacking groups. During the war against Ukraine, according to the interviewed experts, special forces are being used again for tasks that are not appropriate for elite scouts, and this leads to losses. Elite soldiers solve second-class work. A similar conclusion can be drawn from the obituaries. For example, they announce that GRU Major Andrey Kunakov died in Mariupol while “cleaning” the street. Usually, streets in conquered villages are checked by secondary units. Sending elite scouts on such tasks is at least strange. In peacetime, Russian National Guard units usually specialize in breaking up demonstrations, arresting specific people or armed groups in various parts of Russia. Regardless, they sent guardsmen to Ukraine from the first day of the invasion. As of September 1, 245 guardsmen are known to have died. A large part of them are members of special purpose units, i.e. special forces. Almost a quarter of them were officers. At least 16 of them had the right to wear a maroon beret, considered by the Guard to be a symbol of the elite of the special forces. According to open sources, the 25th special forces unit from Kazan suffered the greatest losses on September 1. Ten of its members, including two officers, were killed in Ukraine. According to the monument in the unit’s compound, the unit suffered the same losses in half a year in Ukraine as in ten years in Chechnya. The elite of the secret services also die on the battlefield. From open sources, 20 members of the FSB and FSO secret services are known to have been killed during the invasion. Most of them are border guards subordinate to the FSB, but among the dead are also officers of the most secret units. According to expert Andrej Soldatov, the Special Purpose Center of the FSB actively participates in the fighting, including operations in occupied territories, such as Kherson. It is known about the killing of FSB lieutenant colonel Nikolai Gorban. The Kamchatka media announced the death of FSB special forces lieutenant colonel Sergei Privalov. In the summer, the grave of lieutenant colonel Vladimir Margiev was added to the “alley of heroes” of the Nikolo-Arkhangensky cemetery near Moscow. In the picture, he is in a uniform with FSB emblems. According to tradition, members of the Alfa and Vympel units of the FSB special forces are buried in the alley. FSB lieutenant colonel Alexey Kryukov, killed in the first days of the war, is buried in Yekaterinburg. There is a wreath from the FSB administration on the grave, the Alfa logo is on the picture. In June, the news appeared about the death of Alfa captain Ilya Cuprik, who, according to another version, may have died in Syria. If these officers really died in Ukraine, it would be a serious blow to the special forces of the FSB. For comparison: Alfa last lost more than three members in half a year in 1995 and 1996 during Chechen attacks in Budyonnovsk and in the village of Pervomajskaya. Unprepared for close combat Some of the paratroopers who marched on Red Square in Moscow last May arrived this year for life in Ukraine. Paratroopers account for exactly a fifth of all identified Russian soldiers killed in the war against Ukraine. Russian infantry, with the exception of a few units, have not fought since the Russian-Georgian war of 2008. banal inability to conduct close combat,” claims Russian reserve officer Alexander Araťunov. Due to the main burden of fighting in the first weeks of the war, the airborne troops fell. According to official data alone, more than 80 dead can be counted, including the regimental commander and 20 officers. The attempt to break through to Kiev at the beginning of March cost the regiment dozens of lives. Then the paratroopers fought for Izju, in May they were transferred to the town of Popasna in Donbass. Realistically, the regiment could lose 150 soldiers. And if for every two dead there are seven wounded, then the regiment lacks 650-670 people. That’s more than half of the state. Marines are fighting on the southern front. According to open sources, the 810th Guards Brigade with its garrison in the annexed Crimea suffered the biggest losses. It lost at least 56 soldiers, including two brigade commanders. Alexei Šarov died in March, his successor Sergej Kens in July. Allegedly, the colonel “wasn’t enough to be taken to the hospital”. If this really happened, it shows the serious problems of the Russian army with the rapid evacuation of the wounded. Dozens of airmen died. As of September 1, the BBC had news of the death of 67 Russian airmen during the invasion of Ukraine, including weapons operators and flight mechanics. It’s a special category of loss because aircrews and helicopters are the elite of any military. Pilot training can take 15-17 years and cost 12-14 million dollars. Despite the fact that the Russian Air Force officially has hundreds of modern aircraft, it is not able to undertake a large-scale offensive campaign, experts warn. It cannot be excluded that this may be related to the loss of the best pilots in the first months of the war.” It is difficult to say what the Russian pilots actually do during most combat flights. We can clearly see that Russian aircraft rarely enter the depth of Ukrainian-controlled territory due to the still high efficiency of the Ukrainian air defense,” says British expert Justin Bronk.