Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1532587
weaponry and receive mostly outdated Soviet-era equipment from the late 1980s. No air support is provided, and drone use is minimal, limited to privately purchased UAVs, by soldiers and officers. At the same time, these formations became some of the most battle-hardened units in the Russian military. The long years of trench-based warfare had so thoroughly hardened and coordinated these units that they were likely among the best Russian formations during the full-scale invasion of 2022. Fortunately for Ukraine, this situation has changed significantly since then. Losses have been replenished by pouring poorly trained, newly conscripted recruits into these units—recruits who, since 2023 and the official incorporation of these formations into the Russian army, have been sourced from other regions of Russia. This, in turn, has led to internal frictions and a decline in the morale of these units. As of 2021, the 1st Donetsk Army Corps consisted of four mechanized brigades, one artillery brigade, a marine infantry regiment, an independent mechanized regiment, and several smaller independent units. It also had appropriate air defense, engineering, and sapper support. As of 2, the 1st Donetsk Army Corps consisted of four mechanized brigades, one artillery brigade, a marine infantry regiment, an independent mechanized regiment, and several smaller independent units, at the battalion level. ANALYSIS