Russian army units that fled from Bakhmut already defeated twice in Ukraine

This is stated in the report of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

"Pervasive issues with Russian combat capability, exacerbated by continued attritional assaults in the Bakhmut area, are likely considerably constraining the ability of Russian forces in this area to defend against localized Ukrainian counterattacks. The 72nd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade itself is emblematic of many of the endemic force generation issues constantly faced by the Russian military," the experts note.

As said in the report, on August 7, 2022, ISW analysts reported that the 72nd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade was being formed in the Orenburg region, Russia, as part of the 3rd Army Corps, a new formation that mostly consists of volunteer battalions.

In September 2022, the media reported that the 3rd Army Corps of the Russian Federation had deployed to the Kharkiv region, and that the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region had largely destroyed the corps' components. Among them, the report notes, was probably the 72nd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade.

The ISW also recalled that Ukrainian media suggested that after the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region, the surviving elements of the 72nd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade were probably redeployed to the Mykolaiv region, where they suffered losses during Ukraine's southern counteroffensive in October 2022.

ISW cannot confirm the exact location of the brigade's units. The institute also cannot confirm where the 72nd Brigade was relocated after the withdrawal of Russian troops from the western bank of the Dnipro River. However, the analysts noted that it is very likely that elements of the 72nd Brigade, which were recently redeployed to the Bakhmut area, are not operating in full force there.

"The Russian military command’s apparent commitment of elements of a formation that has suffered two successive defeats to the Bakhmut axis alongside already attrited Wagner elements likely offer Ukrainian forces opportunities to exploit with limited counterattacks," the report says.

• On May 10, Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander of the Land Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, confirmed the information previously reported by military commanders that the Ukrainian Defense Forces forced Russian troops to retreat to a distance of up to 2 kilometers in the Bakhmut sector.