Generally speaking, in August 2021, the Russian Armed Forces had 168 battalion tactical groups (BTGs). These are the ‘permanent readiness’ forces that were more trained and equipped for combat operations than any other. Considering that the number of personnel in each BTG was 800 to 1,000, the total number of Russian ‘permanent readiness’ troops fell in the range of 134,500 to 168,000 on the eve of the #war. At the same time, it is worth remembering that the total invasion force initially numbered 190,000 men, which, alongside BTGs, also included battlefield-ready National Guard units, with ‘Kadyrov’s men’ among them, and the units recruited in the #Donetsk and #Luhansk regions. At the same time, it is still difficult to provide an estimate of the reserves that #Russia had at that time, but it is unlikely to exceed an additional 100,000 men for the armed forces. Considering that these reserves were used by the end of the fifth month of the war, the US #military believe that #Moscow had already engaged 85% of the total available army, one way or another. Hence, the loss of 70,000−80,000 men, whether killed or wounded, in the context of the ongoing war raises the question of whether such an #army can ever return home.

https://ridl.io/the-finite-army/ #ukraine #weapons #crimea #fsb