Russia deploying newly-formed Armenian volunteer battalion to Ukraine

Russia is deploying a newly-formed Armenian volunteer battalion to Ukraine, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said, Report informs.

According to ISW, Russian sources amplified pictures of the “Arbat” volunteer battalion attending a sendoff ceremony at the Armenian Cathedral of Moscow on July 2: “One Russian source speculated that the volunteer battalion includes Armenian citizens as well as ethnic Armenians from Russian-occupied Abkhazia.”

Moreover, the Institute said that Ukrainian forces reportedly conducted counteroffensive operations in six sectors of the front on July 2 and made gains in some of these areas: “It is likely that the Russian MoD seeks to censor some Kremlin-affiliated milbloggers out of a concern that these ultranationalists may expose Russian military failures to Putin during their monthly ‘special military operations’ milblogger working groups within the Kremlin.”