РУССКИЙ
11:35 16.02.2026 •
Polish Volunteer Corps Serviceman in Ukraine, Russian Iskander-M Launch, Su-34 Bombing
Photo: MWM
The Russian Armed Forces were confirmed on February 11 to have targeted Ukrainian forces’ energy and transport infrastructure, while also attacking temporary deployment points of Ukrainian military formations and foreign contractor units, ‘The Military Watch Magazine’ writes.
Commenting on these strikes, the Russian Defence Ministry reported: "Operational-tactical aviation, strike unmanned aerial vehicles, missile forces and artillery of the Russian Armed Forces' battlegroups inflicted damage on energy and transport infrastructure facilities of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as well as on temporary deployment points of Ukrainian military formations and foreign mercenaries in 141 districts.”
The significant discrepancy in the two countries’ ability to launch strikes using fighter aviation, artillery and rocket artillery systems, and tactical missile systems, has been a primary factor in the favour of the Russian Armed Forces since the outbreak of full scale hostilities in February 2022.
A leading example of a strike on personnel concentrations reported in early November was a strike targeting some of the most high value personnel from elite Ukrainain Armed Forces units at an awards ceremony. The strike was confirmed by Ukraine’s Operational Task Force East, with personnel from the 35th Separate Marine Brigade including elite drone operators, confirmed to have been among those killed. Dmytro Sviatnenko, a Ukrainian journalist, reported that the personnel “were gathered on the parade ground to be awarded. They gathered the best. The best pilots and infantrymen of the brigade. In order of command. In open terrain. Ballistics flew in. The story of negligence repeated itself.”
U.S. Forward Observations Group Contractor Personnel Deployed to Support Ukrainian Offensives in Kursk
Photo: MWM
The Ukrainain Armed Forces’ extreme casualties have resulted in severe personnel shortages, with a digital card index from Ukraine’s Chief of Staff in August 2025 having provided details on dead or missing personnel, and showing that the Forces had lost more than 1.7 million personnel, including both those killed and missing, since February 2022. Although strikes on Ukrainian personnel concentrations have been common, foreign fighters, like the “foreign mercenaries” referred to in the recent Russian Defence Ministry statement, have been particularly singled out for targeting.
On July 21, 2025, a Russian strike on a training camp near the central Ukrainian city of Kropivnitsky caused over 100 casualties among foreign fighters, who were gathered for lunch. An American fighter, who spoke to the New York Times on condition of anonymity, reported that combatants from the United States, Denmark, Colombia, and Taiwan were among those hit.
Colombian Mercenaries in Ukraine
Photo: MWM
The July 2025 strike was far from unprecedented, and 18 months prior in January 2024 a strike on the headquarters of predominantly French European contractors caused at least 80 casualties, 60 or more of which were deaths. These personnel were “highly trained specialists who work on specific weapons systems too complex for the average Ukrainian conscripts,” according to Russian state media reports, with their neutralisation having “put some of the most lethal and long-range weapons in the Ukrainian arsenal out of service until more specialists are found” to replace them.
A greater reliance on foreign contractors, particularly those from Poland and Latin America, has provided a key means of compensating for Ukrainian personnel shortages.
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