UK MoD: Prestigious formation allocated for defence of Moscow suffers serious defeat in Kharkiv Region

Some of the Russian forces withdrawn from Kharkiv Region over the last week were from the 1st Guards Tank Army, which is subordinate to the Western Military District.

This army suffered heavy casualties in the initial phase of the invasion and had not been fully reconstituted prior to the Ukrainian counter-offensive in Kharkiv, the report of the Ministry of Defence of Great Britain states on Twitter.

The 1st Guards Tank Army 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, the message said.

The British military believes it will likely take years for russia to rebuild the capability of this army and other formations of the Western Military District designed to counter NATO.

The 1st Guards Tank Army, according to open data, is stationed in Moscow, Ivanovo, Smolensk, Yaroslavl, and Nizhny Novgorod Regions. It originates from the times of World War II, but its activities were resumed in November 2014 - Putin made this decision in connection with the war he unleashed in the East of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Defence Forces inflicted heavy losses on the formation several times. At the beginning of March, the Armed Forces of Ukraine defeated this "elite" near Kharkiv. According to the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, as of 15 March, the army lost a total of 409 people, Ukrinform writes.

At the end of March, the Ministry of Defence reported that the flight of the russian military from Trostyanets, Sumy region, could be the reason for the dismissal of Kisel, the commander of the First Tank Army of the Western Military District of the russian federation.