After Vivaldi, Russia's 144th Motor Rifle Division Ceased To Exist As Combat Unit

Russia's 144th Motorized Rifle Division, a key element of the Kremlin's 20th Combined Arms Army on the Lyman front, has ceased to exist as an effective fighting force following the casualties and destruction of equipment it suffered at the hands of Ukraine's Operation Vivaldi.

The 144th was stationed in the Lyman salient bridgehead across the Siverskyi Donets River. That salient was a primary focus of Operation Vivaldi and has now been eliminated. As a result, the 144th bore the full brunt of the Ukrainian assault and has been decimated, rendering it operationally ineffective. Its latest dispositions suggest it has been placed in a defensive posture as it awaits rebuilding. JL

Andrii Sukharov reports in Miiitarnyi:

The 144th Motorized Rifle Division of the Russian 20th Combined Arms Army effectively ceased to operate as an organized military force following Operation Vivaldi. The 144th Division was part of a Russian force operating from a bridgehead on the Chornyi Zherebets River. The Russian plan called for an advance through Svyatogorsk toward Barvinkove. Together with an offensive through Dobropillia, this was intended to encircle the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk area and Ukrainian forces in the north of Donetsk region. During Operation Vivaldi, Ukrainian troops eliminated the bridgehead and inflicted significant losses on the Russian offensive group. The division’s current actions are an attempt to establish a defensive position rather than organized offensive operations. 

The 144th Motorized Rifle Division of the Russian 20th Combined Arms Army effectively ceased to operate as an organized military force following Operation Vivaldi.

Andriy Biletskyi made this assessment during a meeting dedicated to the results of the 3rd Army Corps’ operation.

The 144th Division was part of a Russian force operating from a bridgehead on the Chornyi Zherebets River. 

According to Biletskyi, the Russian plan called for an advance through Svyatogorsk toward Barvinkove. Together with an offensive through Dobropillia, this was intended to create conditions for encircling the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk metropolitan area and Ukrainian forces in the north of Donetsk region.

During Operation Vivaldi, Ukrainian troops eliminated the bridgehead and inflicted significant losses on the Russian offensive group.

“In effect, the 144th Division of the 20th Army has ceased to exist as an organized military force,” Biletskyi stated.

In his assessment, the division’s current actions resemble an attempt to establish a defensive position rather than organized, systematic operations by the unit. 

Biletskyi also stated that the rout of the group forced the Russian command to temporarily abandon its attempt to bypass Sloviansk and Kramatorsk from the north.