40% of Russian military equipment received by its new units is not combat-ready – Chief Directorate of Ukrainian Intelligence

KATERYNA TYSHCHENKO – SATURDAY, 3 SEPTEMBER 2022, 13:13

Investigators with the Conflict Intelligence Team believe that Russia is deploying the recently formed 3rd Army Corps to the front.

Source: Conflict Intelligence Team

Quote: "During the past few days, our volunteers discovered photos and videos of Russian military equipment by railway. A full Buk missile system can be seen on the video, and the photo shows T-80BV and T-90M tanks. According to the Russian railway database, both echelons are headed from Mulino in Nizhniy Novgorod Oblast heading towards the Neklinivka railway station in Rostov Oblast (Russia), near the border with Donetsk Oblast (Ukraine).

They were departed from Mulino on 22 and 24 August respectively, which more or less corresponds to the time tof deployment of the 3rd Army Corps, as reported by Kostiantyn Mashovets, a Ukrainian analyst, and confirmed by other sources".

Details: The investigators remarked that the transportation of Buk missile systems indicates that a large unit, such as the army, is being deployed.

"In this case it can be assumed that the whole of 3rd Army Corps is being deployed, or at least the combat-ready part of it", the report states.

Quote: "For the moment, it is impossible to confidently say where exactly the Russian command is planning to deploy the corps. Yet the final destination of echelons (the Neklinivka station) is located in the South of Rostov Oblast which is closer to Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia areas of the front".

Background: On 10 August, British intelligence reported that in order to facilitate its "operation", Russia most likely created a new large formation of ground forces: the 3rd Army Corps based in Mulino in Nizhniy Novgorod Oblast to the east of Moscow.

At the same time, the intelligence report states that due to a "limited level of national enthusiasm", it is unlikely that Russia will manage to staff the corps with the necessary number of personnel. It also noted that it is equally unlikely that creating a new formation will have a detrimental effect on the whole Russian military campaign.

On 20 August, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported that Russia continues to form regional "volunteer" units and will likely deploy many of them to Kherson and the south of Ukraine as part of the 3rd Army Corps.

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