Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Dosyagaev, Air Assault Battalion Commander, 104th Guards Air Assault Regiment, Killed In Ukraine

The Ukrainian Stratkom of the Armed Forces announced today that Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Dosyagaev, Commanding Officer of the Assault Battalion of the 104th Guards Air Assault Regiment, was killed in an unspecified location in Donetsk today, most likely near Chuhuiv where Ukrainian troops are thrusting against Russian ground lines of communication supporting base operations at Izyum. 

The death of Dosyagaev represents Ukrainian retribution against subordinate units of the 76th Guards Air Assault Division, which have been attributed to the civilian deaths and rape in Bucha. The 76th Division comprised the majority of the shock troops that seized Antonov Airfield and pushed to the northern suburbs of Kyiv before being reinforced by the 64th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade, national guard troops, and other conventional units of the Russian Ground Forces.

After the withdrawal of Russian Ground Forces a month ago from Northeast Ukraine, the Division reportedly redeployed to outside of Kharkiv and has been operating around Izyum in order to control the ground lines of communication as Russian forces attempt to encircle Ukrainian troops near Lysychansk and Severodonetsk. U.S. President Biden announced earlier this week that Ukraine will receive HIMARS batteries which will most likely be sent to Kharkiv in order to facilitate a Ukrainian offensive towards Izyum, while Russian Ground Forces are engaged with the aforementioned Ukrainian troops to the South.

The 76th Division, comprised of 6,000-8,000 men is made up of:

• Division Headquarters (Pskov, Western Military District)

  • 175th Reconnaissance Battalion

  • 124th Tank Battalion (T-72B3)

  • 7th Maintenance Battalion

  • 656th Engineering Battalion

  • 728th Communications Battalion (Senior Lieutenant Roman Lokotkov was killed 4 days ago)

• • 1682nd Material Support Battalion

  • 3996th Military Hospital (Airmobile)

  • 201st Postal Station

  • Airborne Support Company

  • NBC Defense Company

  • Commandant’s Company

• 104th Guards Air Assault Regiment (Dosyagaev‘s higher headquarters, he was a battalion commander of the regiment)

• 234th Guards Air Assault Regiment

• 237th Guards Air Assault Regiment (reinstated 2018)

• 1140th Guards Artillery Regiment (senior Lt.

• 4th Guards Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment

In early May, President Zelensky announced units of the 64th Motorized Rifle Brigade, the above mentioned VDV division, Chechen fighters, and Wagner Group personnel were responsible for the massacre.

On March 1st 2020, President Putin personally reviewed the Regiment saying:

“The history of the Airborne Troops is full of legendary examples of bravery, military training and unstoppable determination. The 104^th Regiment, its soldiers and officers, wrote their own bright pages of military valour, displaying many times their highest professionalism and never sparing themselves, in training or in battle.

Our people are proud of you and believe that you will continue to resolutely defend the interests of Russia, protect its safety and the lives of our people. If necessary, you will continue to fight off adversaries the way it was done by your comrades, who will eternally remain your fellow soldiers, the paratroopers of the 6^th Company.”

This division is the oldest of the Airborne Troops’ existing units. From 1999 to 2004 its personnel took part in the Second Chechen War. In 2000, the paratroopers of the 6^th Company of the 104^th Airborne Regiment displayed great heroism during a battle with armed rebels, according to the Kremlin website.