Combat Capability Of Russian Military Trained In Belarus Will Be Limited - British Intelligence

The Russian Federation has likely completed the training in Belarus of the 2nd Guards Motor Rifle Division (GMRD) of the 1st Guards Tank Army. The GMRD suffered major losses in the opening phases of the war. The mobilized will be used at the front after several weeks of training.

This was reported by the British Ministry of Defence on Twitter.

As noted in the summary, most of the 2nd Guards Motor Rifle Division has now been deployed back to Russia before almost certainly being re-engaged in operations in Ukraine.

According to British intelligence, the division is part of the 1st Guards Tank Army and suffered heavy losses in the initial phase of the war. It is now predominantly mobilized personnel operating old equipment removed from storage. Its combat effectiveness is likely to be limited, despite several weeks of training.

"There is a realistic possibility that other Russian units are being rotated into Belarus for similar training, and that Russia will continue this model to regenerate and prepare units to maintain its force in Ukraine,” the British Defence Ministry said in a statement.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the Ministry of Defence of Belarus said that units of the 11th separate mechanized brigade began to remove equipment from long-term storage as part of joint combat coordination measures of the regional group of troops of Belarus and Russia.

In early January, the representative of the Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Vadym Skibitskyi said that Russia does not have enough troops for a new offensive against Ukraine from Belarus, presumably Belarus will be used by the Russian Federation for the most part as a base for the reorganization of troops.

Meanwhile, almost 6,000 Russian soldiers are on the territory of Belarus, some of the Russian servicemen have already moved to the Luhansk Region.