The UK analysts made the observation in their latest intelligence update on the war in Ukraine, published on Tuesday.
The UK Ministry of Defence wrote: “Elements of the Russian forces withdrawn from Kharkiv Oblast over the last week were from the 1st Guards Tank Army (1 GTA), which are subordinate to the Western Military District (WEMD).”
The British analysts noted that “1 GTA suffered heavy casualties in the initial phase of the invasion and had not been fully reconstituted prior to the Ukrainian counter-offensive in Kharkiv.”
According to the UK Ministry of Defence, “1 GTA had been one of the most prestigious of Russia’s armies, allocated for the defence of Moscow, and intended to lead counter-attacks in the case of a war with NATO.”
“With 1 GTA and other WEMD formations severely degraded, Russia’s conventional force designed to counter NATO is severely weakened,” the British analysts noted.
“It will likely take years for Russia to rebuild this capability,” they assessed.
It came as Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Monday night that Ukrainian forces had retaken 6,000 square kilometres of land since the start of the month.
On Tuesday morning, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry announced the re-capture of a further eight settlements in the Kharkiv region, confirming the liberation of the key city of Izyum, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Tuesday is day 202 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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Source: UK Ministry of Defence, PAP, interfax.com.ua