< /p>
The personnel of almost all the promoted Russian airborne brigades during the 8 years of the war in Ukraine has changed at least three times. Absolutely not because of the end of the contracts of the warrior, but because of the complete destruction of the Horde.
The Kremlin groups, which were considered the most combat-ready, constantly suffer incredible losses for a variety of reasons. First of all – due to bad command. Vadim Pankov, head of the 45th Separate Guards Order of Kutuzov and Alexander Nevsky Special Forces Brigade, is a striking example of this.
Colonel, Commander of the Orders of Courage and Hero of Russia, according to Channel 24 sources in the Ukrainian special services, is an extremely “successful” commander, who constantly sends Putin's elite army to his death, fails his tasks, but still remains a favorite of the top political leadership.
Got a second chance thanks to his friendship with the leadership and banditry
- Pankov, according to his official biography, received his higher military education at the Kiev Frunze Command School, where he was a very capable cadet.< /li>
- After that, the future hero of Russia was sent to the Transcaucasus, from where he actually disappeared in 1991, when the war in Nagorno-Karabakh began.
- Pankov appeared in Ukraine, where he took an oath of allegiance to our state and led a special forces group of the 2nd battalion 9 OBSP. He served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine for almost two years, and he did it flawlessly. However, already in 1993, an experienced officer suddenly joined the Russian armed forces, where he managed to make a swift but inglorious career.
- At the beginning of his work in Russia, Vadim Pankov led a group of special forces of the 218th separate battalion Moscow military district and was one of the founders of the 45th separate special forces regiment, and later – the deputy commander of the unit.
- Together with his subordinates, the officer fought in Chechnya, where he received complex injuries and was not supposed to return to the army at all. However, thanks to his connections and corruption, Pankov passed the commission, continued his service and became a hero of Russia. They say that Pankov owes his career to friendly relations with the then commander of the 58th Army, Vladimir Shamanov. Subsequently, the latter led the airborne troops and attached his subordinates to gang warfare.
In 2009, Pankov was the deputy commander of the same 45th regiment and willingly sent paratroopers to carry out raider attacks in favor of the son-in-law of the shaman Alexei Khramushin, known in criminal circles under the nickname “Deep”. However, there is information that the colonel maintained very warm relations not only with the head of the Airborne Forces and his son-in-law, but also often visited Svetlana Shamanova herself. Of course, when her husband was not at home.
Already in 2012, Pankov led his “native” regiment, which after 3 years became a full-fledged brigade. The most promoted, trained and loved by all the military-political leadership of Russia.
Already in 2014, the paratroopers of the 45th brigade took part in the capture of the Crimea, after which they were transferred to the Donbass. And it was there that Pankov's “heroic” abilities were fully revealed.
After 8 years, he put three members of the brigade into the ground
Oddly enough, but the colonel, who was an excellent cadet while studying in Kyiv, and an exemplary officer while serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, showed himself to be the most stupid commander in the war against Ukraine. All the conquests of the paratrooper brigade ended with the occupation of the peninsula, which Russia took almost without a fight. Already in the summer of 2014, thanks to the failed administration, the Ukrainian 72nd brigade destroyed almost the entire squad of special forces who were engaged in the seizure of administrative buildings in Mariupol. Some of the surviving soldiers who could tell about the actual betrayal of Pankov were liquidated by his order.
The disastrous military actions of the paratroopers at the beginning of the war did not prevent the colonel from continuing his career. Already in 2022, the reformatted brigade was sent to capture the Gostomel airport.The task of the paratroopers was to prepare a bridgehead for an attack on Kyiv, and after the landing of the main forces, the “elite” of the invading troops was to advance to the capital and capture or destroy the top political leadership of Ukraine.
45 brigade in Gostomel/Screenshot from propaganda videos
However, the brigade commander decided to personally direct the actions of his subordinates, so The invaders suffered the first losses in equipment and manpower even before their arrival directly at the airport. Subsequently, when the invaders had already de facto seized control of the object, neither Colonel Pankov nor the officers on the ground could organize its defense and were mercilessly driven out by the same famous 72nd brigade.
Only on February 24, the 45th OMB of Russia lost half of the 6 special forces groups, which were supposed to ensure the landing of the rest of the brigade's units, by “200” soldiers. However, due to the impossibility of landing, Pankov decided that the groupings would advance on the ground to help his troops on the airfield.
The failure to control the capture of Gostomel actually allowed the Ukrainian Defense Forces to block the advance of the Russians and led to the fact that in The Kremlin refused to cordon off and capture the capital. It was the defeat on the territory of the main military airfield in Moscow that was considered as the foundation of a goodwill gesture in the Kiev region, but Pankov did not suffer any punishment for his actions. Moreover, he was entrusted with a new task – the defense of the Kharkiv region and the advancement of the Donetsk region.
After the defeat in the capital region, the 45th brigade lost more than 70% of its personnel and was completely incapacitated. The second and third special forces after entering the territory of Belarus were staffed by only 20-30%. All armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles of these units were completely left in the Kyiv region.
All the special forces who captured Gostomel died/Screenshot from the video of Russian propagandists
Only 1 special forces detachment of the 45th brigade, which lost 30% of its personnel, was combat-ready and could continue to perform tasks as intended.< /p>
Russian special forces left all their equipment in the Kiev region/Photo by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
The dead were quickly replaced by conscripts, who were forced to sign a contract, after which they were transferred to Makeevka. The paratroopers must help the group of invaders and local terrorists, capture Avdiivka and ensure the advance of troops towards Bakhmut. In addition, Moscow sent part of the brigade to the Kharkov direction to reinforce forces in Balakliya and Izyum.
What happened next is easy to guess. Pankov personally developed plans for assaults and defense for his units, however, during the counteroffensive, the fighters of the 93rd brigade destroyed over a third of the paratroopers, forcing another 20% of the Russian “elite” to hide. But during the battles for Avdiivka, the colonel almost “worn off” his unit in frontal attacks on the fortified positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Thus, for more than 8 years of war in Ukraine, the commander of the most trained and elite group in Russia managed to do what no one else could – he helped the Armed Forces of Ukraine to destroy almost all of his personnel three times. It is not for nothing that in Ukraine their former colleague-traitor is called the hero of Russian failures. And since he continues to remain in office, there is no doubt that the titans of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will multiply by zero the 45th Special Forces Brigade for the fourth time.
