Journalists link Russian military units to humanitarian crisis in Oleshky

Establishing Russian military involvement in the Oleshky crisis

Journalists from Sledstvo.Info have published an investigation detailing the potential involvement of specific Russian military formations in the humanitarian catastrophe in occupied Oleshky in the Kherson region. According to the research, the local population is left without food, and soldiers from the Russian Black Sea Fleet's 126th Brigade and the 331st Guards Airborne Regiment may be responsible for this situation.

The role of the 126th Coastal Defence Brigade

According to the journalists, the 126th Coastal Defence Brigade of the Russian Black Sea Fleet is deployed on the Kherson axis and is part of the "Dnipro" military grouping. Recently, Ukrainian forces recorded the destruction of several soldiers from this unit near Oleshky.

This separate brigade was formed in 2014 on the basis of the former Ukrainian 36th Coastal Defence Brigade. Following the annexation of Crimea, its personnel transferred to Russian service. After the start of the full-scale invasion, soldiers of the 126th Brigade participated in combat operations in the Kherson region, including the battles for Voznesensk.

Meanwhile, in appeals to the Russian Ministry of Defence, soldiers of this brigade complained about a shortage of equipment and problems with evacuating the wounded and the dead. They also accused the command of concealing actual losses.

Link to the 331st Airborne Regiment

Another unit that the journalists link to the situation in Oleshky is the 331st Airborne Assault Regiment. It is part of the 98th Guards Airborne Division of the Russian Armed Forces.

It was units of the 331st Regiment that shot at Ukrainian soldiers who were trying to break out of the encirclement in Ilovaisk via the so-called "green corridor" in 2014.

After the start of the full-scale war, soldiers of this regiment participated in the offensive in the Kyiv region, and later fought on the Svatove-Kreminna and Bakhmut axes, as well as in the area of Chasiv Yar.

According to Sledstvo.Info, soldiers of the 331st Regiment are currently located in the occupied part of the Kherson region, specifically in the area of the Oleshky community.