“Space Infantry” Thrown on the Defense of the Kursk Oblast

Due to personnel shortages in the Russian ground forces, the AFU's offensive in Kursk Oblast is being mirrored by a temporary motorized rifle regiment of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS), which was specially assembled from VKS personnel from all over Russia.

This was told to IStories by a source familiar with the situation in the VKS units, his words are also confirmed by open data.

The motorized rifle regiment of VKS servicemen, including officers, was created in May-June 2024. It was included in the so-called Sever group of border protection. The regiment does not actually have a permanent deployment point, and the VKS infantry arrived in the border areas a few weeks before the AFU breakthrough, in mid-July.

According to our interlocutor, the unit included members of the security and material support companies, engineers, mechanics and a small number of officers from the flying staff. They were assigned to the infantry from the airfields Ukrainka in the Altai Krai, Belaya in the Irkutsk Oblast, and Engels in the Saratov Oblast. All of these airbases are home to Tu-22M or Tu-95 heavy bombers, from which they launch missiles at Ukrainian cities.

In addition, soldiers from one of Russia's cosmodromes have been written off as infantry, as well as personnel from the VKS special depots and Voronezh radar stations. These stations are put up along Russia's borders for early warning of strikes by cruise and ballistic missiles, including nuclear-tipped ones. How and when the shortage of valuable specialists and guards at the VKS facilities will be filled is unknown, our source notes. According to him, more than 100 highly qualified technicians are needed for normal operation of the Voronezh-type radars.

Volunteers reported on the assistance in the purchase of equipment for military unit 78986 (this is how the motorized rifle regiment of the VKS is numbered). The equipment was purchased for the military from Usolsky district of Irkutsk Oblast (the airfield Belaya is located there) and from Orenburg Oblast (one of the radars Voronezh is located there). One of the deputies of the city council of Engels (the airfield Engels is located there) received a letter of thanks from the commander of the motorized rifle regiment of the VKS.

“Space infantry” is already suffering losses in the Kursk Oblast. On August 7, the AFU attack on the district center of Korenevo in Kursk Oblast was repelled by “urgently transferred and poorly equipped” “cosmonauts,” wrote the pro-war Operation Z Telegram channel. On August 12, 22-year-old Ilya Romanov disappeared in the same area. An announcement about his search suggests that Romanov was transferred to the infantry from the 28th Space Troops Arsenal in the Tambov Oblast, a top-secret facility where rockets and satellites are stored.

The VKS motorized riflemen were probably also in the convoy of equipment burned by a HIMARS strike near Rylsk, Kursk Oblast, on the night of August 9. Vyacheslav Bondarenko, a 22-year-old VKS sergeant, was wounded at that location the same day. Before his transfer to the infantry, he served at the Ukrainka heavy bomber airbase in the Amur Oblast, according to a post by his relatives. He was sent to the motorized rifle regiment underweight — 52 kg at a height of 175 cm.

On July 29, a video presentation of the newly created motorized rifle VKS regiment was published by the Telegram channel Fighterbomber. According to him, at least one aviation navigator and radio operators serve in this unit.