ISW: Foreigners recruited to serve in Russian Airborne Troops

The Russian military reportedly continues to recruit foreign volunteers to serve in relatively elite but likely degraded Russian Airborne (VDV) units, US-based think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in its daily assessment of the Russian military campaign.

A Russian milblogger claimed on October 3 that volunteers from Nepal are serving in Russian Airborne (VDV) brigades, Caliber.Az reports citing the analysts.

ISW previously reported that Cuban volunteers are reportedly serving in the Russian 106th VDV Division.

Key takeaways:

• Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu celebrated an odd group of Russian armed formations operating in the western Zaporizhia Oblast direction during a conference call with Russian military leadership.
• A Reuters report published on October 3 stated that Russian forces have embedded “Storm-Z” units within conventional Russian units to conduct costly counterattacks against Ukrainian gains in key sectors of the front.
• Ukrainian forces continued offensive operations near Bakhmut and in western Zaporizhia Oblast on October 3.
• Russian forces conducted a series of drone and missile strikes against Ukraine on the night of October 2 to 3.
• Russian opposition outlet Verstka revealed that almost half of all occupation officials of the senior and middle management levels in occupied Kherson, Zaporizhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk oblasts are from Russia.