Russian Military Tracker · Topics · VDV/elite units

VDV/elite units

5 tracked developments on VDV/elite units in the Russian armed forces, 2026-09-26 to 2026-10-29, with sources.

Single source — Display is not verification. The value lies in what the party itself publishes or claims: doctrine, self-image, announcements.

«Я тебя могну» / «Старлинки Маска для украинских дронов» (Dva Mayora: 'I'll MOG you' / 'Musk's Starlinks for Ukrainian drones') — Russian units keep downing Ukrainian drones, including an FPV, fitted with Starlink terminals

2026-10-29SINGLE SOURCEMILBLOGGER

In two posts, Dva Mayora says front-line soldiers keep sending it images of downed Ukrainian drones fitted with Starlink antennas. One such drone, the channel says, was brought down by the mobile fire group (MOG) of the 108th Guards Air Assault Regiment. In the second post, whose title puns on 'MOG', the channel says Russian forces shot down an FPV drone carrying Starlink. It argues that putting satellite equipment on a disposable short-range drone shows the Ukrainian armed forces have Starlink terminals in abundance. The channel puts this in a political frame. It mentions Western media reports that Elon Musk has moved from generous support for Ukraine to open criticism of Kyiv and wonders how that will affect aid. It also links the Starlink sightings to the negotiation track with the United States, which it accuses of pressuring Russia militarily while tempting Russian business with the lifting of sanctions. The posts give no technical details on the drones or how the Starlink terminals were integrated, and the claims are not independently verified. Single source: Dva Mayora is a personal/editorial pro-war Telegram channel, not a Russian MoD position; milbloggers can contradict each other and the MoD.

Sources: Два майора (Telegram) · Два майора (Telegram)

Meduza: Russia’s main push in northern Donbas closes on Kramatorsk as forces cut the Dobropillia–Kramatorsk road and Moscow claims Dobropillia; Ukraine forms two Azov-led groupings to hold Kramatorsk and Sloviansk

2026-10-22

A front-line analysis by Meduza’s explainer team describes Russia’s current offensive towards the Kramatorsk–Sloviansk urban area as the decisive push in the battle for Donbas. In Meduza’s account, the most acute crisis is between Dobropillia and Kramatorsk, possibly worse than the August 2025 breakthrough in the same area. Russian troops have cut the Dobropillia–Kramatorsk road and are storming Dobropillia. The Russian Defence Ministry claims full capture of the town and released videos as proof; Meduza says some clips show clear signs of AI processing, while others appear genuine. Meduza reports that Russian command moved additional forces from eastern Zaporizhzhia Oblast and repeated, on a larger scale, last year’s failed manoeuvre east of Dobropillia. Russian forces retook Kucheriv Yar and part of Zolotyi Kolodiaz, though control of the latter is contested, and have got behind its defenders near Petrivka. Further Russian groupings are pushing towards Kramatorsk’s south-eastern outskirts via Novoandriivka, past Kostiantynivka towards Bilokuzminovka and the airfield on the city’s southern edge, and along the Bakhmut–Sloviansk highway. Meduza says Ukrainian command is unsure of Moscow’s plan. Kyiv previously assessed that Russia would envelop the urban area from the west (towards Barvinkove) and east (towards Izyum) to force a withdrawal without urban fighting. Russia may now instead be converging on Kramatorsk, with a pre-war population of 150,000, from several directions to storm it, with Sloviansk next. To hold the area, Ukraine created two operational groupings led by Azov veterans. The “Center” grouping under Andriy Biletsky, former commander of the 3rd Army Corps, defends Sloviansk. The “Azov” grouping under Denys Prokopenko, former commander of the 12th National Guard Brigade, covers Kramatorsk. According to Meduza, Biletsky’s forces pushed Russia’s 20th Combined Arms Army back west of the Chornyi Zherebets river, where it is now trying to hold a line between Torske and Zarichne. Reinforced with two brigades from Zaporizhzhia, they counterattacked Russia’s “South” group at Rai-Oleksandrivka, east of Sloviansk. Russian infiltration between the Siverskyi Donets–Donbas canal and the Bakhmut–Sloviansk road continues, and the 25th Combined Arms Army is pressing into Lyman. In the south, Meduza notes that Ukraine is dismantling its strike grouping at the junction of the Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions to feed the Donbas defence. Russia’s “Dnipro” group is attempting to storm Orikhiv. Airborne (VDV) forces committed from the reserve advanced south-west of the town; Ukraine reportedly may have pushed them out of Novopavlivka, without visual confirmation. Russia’s “East” group has resumed a broad-front offensive towards Orikhiv and the Orikhiv–Novomykolaivka supply road, infiltrating Omelnyk. All positional claims come from Meduza’s reading of published video and statements from both sides and could not be independently verified.

Sources: Meduza (EN)

«Европейская помощь дошла, но есть нюанс» (Dva Majors: European aid arrived, but there is a catch)

2026-10-11SINGLE SOURCEMILBLOGGER

This is the personal, editorial voice of Dva Majors (Два майора), a Russian pro-war Telegram channel, not a position of the Russian Ministry of Defence. Milbloggers can contradict each other and the MoD; the content has not been independently verified. The post is written in a mocking, sarcastic tone aimed at Ukraine and its European supporters. According to Dva Majors, paratroopers of the Novorossiysk-based 7th Guards Air Assault (Mountain) Division recorded a short video from positions they had taken from Ukrainian forces, reviewing European food aid for Ukraine that they found there. The channel says the packaging came from Austria, Italy and Hungary among others, that the soldiers "thank the donor countries", rated the food as generally tasty but mocked the sausage compared with a Russian brand, and joked that the aid was handed to the Ukrainian armed forces while the thank-you video came from the VDV. The post gives no location or date for the capture of the positions. The item is essentially a morale and information piece; its only military content is the implicit claim that the 7th Guards Air Assault Division has taken Ukrainian positions, without location or date. Single source: this is a post by the Russian milblogger channel Dva Majors (Два майора) that has not been independently verified.

Sources: Два майора (Telegram)

«Сбор на Дружковское направление» (Dva Majors: Fundraiser for the Druzhkivka direction)

2026-10-10SINGLE SOURCEMILBLOGGER

This is the personal, editorial voice of Dva Majors (Два майора), a Russian pro-war Telegram channel, not a position of the Russian Ministry of Defence. Milbloggers can contradict each other and the MoD; the content has not been independently verified. These are fundraising posts by the channel's own charity foundation (BF Dva Majors). On 10 and 11 October Dva Majors ran a collection for the 33rd Guards Motor Rifle Regiment on the Druzhkivka direction, saying the regiment's assault groups "need popular support". The shopping list totals 3,040,000 roubles: three Mavic 3T drones (1.8 million), a Mavic 3 Pro (220,000), four radio relays (220,000), twenty Mavic batteries (360,000), ten generators (250,000), two laptops (90,000) and four TYT MD9600 radios (100,000). According to the posts, 1,158 people donated 316,625 roubles on the first day and 492 people 132,492 roubles the next, bringing the total to 2,817,470 roubles with 222,530 still to go. In a separate post the channel reported that, together with the group "Gum pomoshch Omsk", it had delivered "Frontovaya ten" camouflage suits to the 56th Air Assault Regiment, which it says reduce soldiers' visibility to thermal imagers and enemy drones when moving and working at night, now that the sky is "constantly under observation by enemy UAVs". The posts illustrate that Russian frontline units continue to obtain basic tactical equipment (commercial reconnaissance drones, batteries, relays, radios, generators and anti-thermal camouflage) through public crowdfunding rather than solely through state supply. The posts themselves do not say why these items are not provided through official channels. Single source: this is a post by the Russian milblogger channel Dva Majors (Два майора) that has not been independently verified.

Sources: Два майора (Telegram) · Два майора (Telegram) · Два майора (Telegram)

Головна загроза прийде разом із туманами: «Перун» про плани росіян на Запоріжжі

2026-09-26SINGLE SOURCE

Dmytro 'Perun' Filatov, commander of Ukraine's 1st Separate Assault Regiment, told Suspilne that Russian forces on the Zaporizhzhia axis have reduced the number of assaults, which he attributes to Russia choosing another direction for its main effort, apparently Dobropillia. Infiltration attempts still happen daily, mostly by groups of two or three infantrymen, countered by strike-and-search actions along Ukrainian supply routes. According to Filatov, Russian forces fire little artillery at his unit because Ukrainian counter-battery fire quickly destroys guns after they fire; there is therefore no classic artillery preparation before infantry actions, and Russian fire is concentrated on drones. Russian crews hide their guns with revetments, camouflage nets and dug-in positions, and limit their firing arc so they do not have to cut trees in tree lines. Filatov named the former Kakhovka reservoir bed as a particular threat: dense vegetation, high humidity and long autumn and winter fogs make it hard to observe and control. He says Russian troops used these conditions last year to enter the village of Prymorske, which Ukrainian forces now fully hold again, and expects the area to become very hard to hold with current forces as the weather worsens. He does not expect a full-scale offensive on Zaporizhzhia, but the same infiltration tactics under more favourable conditions, requiring no extra units. He identified the Russian force in the sector as the 'Dnepr' grouping, which includes airborne (VDV) troops. Caveat: this is single-source reporting from ArmyInform, the news agency of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence. The claims about Russian plans have not been independently verified.

Sources: armyinform