Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff has issued a brief note about a successful precision strike on the command post of the russian 8th Guards Combined Arms Army, located in the city of Khartsyzk in the occupied part of Ukraine's Donetsk region.
As the report implies, units of the 8th Army of the russian Armed Forces are involved in combat operations in the Kurakhiv operational axis. The city of Khartsyzk is located about 40 kilometers from the current line of contact, meaning there are many attack weapons that Ukraine could have used to deliver this strike.
Read more: First, Ukrainian FPV Drones Destroyed Two Pantsir Systems in Kherson, Then It Was Revealed They Were Launched from a Naval Drone
Some general information about the 8th Combined Arms Army, a unit that received the honored "Guards" status in russia, may give a better perspective on the significance of this strike. Particularly, how many divisions, soldiers and equipment it encompasses.
To begin with, let us remind that in summer 2024, russia transformed the "1st and 2nd Army Corps" it had deployed in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine into the 51st and 3rd combined arms armies of its armed forces. Both were subordinated to the 8th Combined Arms Army prior to this reformation. Considering these subordination changes and some associated data from russian sources, the approximate composition of the 8th Army would be the following:
- 20th and 150th motor rifle divisions;
- 238th artillery and 47th missile brigades;
- 78th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade;
- 33rd Engineer-Sapper Regiment, 38th Regiment of NBC protection troops and 133rd Separate Management Battalion.
As for manpower and equipment, estimates are that the mentioned 20th and 150th motor rifle divisions may count up to a total of 20,000 troops and 200 tanks of various types; the 238th Artillery Brigade may include up to 24 D-30 howitzers and Msta-S self-propelled guns; the 47th Brigade supposedly wields an unspecified number of Tornado-G artillery rocket launchers (although having Iskander tactical missiles would be more logical here); and the 78th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade operates Pantsir and Buk air defense systems.
The level of can be evidenced not only by the fact that it was under the command of this army that the above-mentioned "1st and 2nd army corps" were located.
There is also an interesting fact highlighting the significance of the 8th Guards Combined Arms Army in the general structure of the russian armed forces: the 8th Army commander, Colonel General Gennady Anashkin in May 2024 was appointed as the acting chief of the Southern Military District, one of the five key administrative divisions of the russian Armed Forces.
Read more: russia Transforms Army Corps into Combined Arms Armies on Territories of Donetsk, Luhansk Oblasts
