Russians Baffled After Putin's 'Space Troops' Deployed as Infantry in Kursk

Russians have been left baffled after President Vladimir Putin deployed his so-called "space troops" to defend the Kursk region due to a manpower shortage amid a Ukrainian incursion.

The deployment of temporary motorized rifle of Russia's Aerospace Forces to the Kursk region was first reported by independent investigative Russian outlet Important Stories.

The unit, created between May and June, consists of personnel from security and logistics companies, engineers, mechanics, some officers, and servicemen from a Russian spaceport. There are also personnel from special warehouses of the Aerospace Forces and radar stations in Russia's Voronezh region, who were previously in charge of manning Russia's nuclear deterrent, the publication reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.

The Fighterbomber Telegram channel, which has links to the Russian Aerospace Forces, appeared confused by the decision to deploy the unit to Kursk.

"I have no idea why they call themselves motorized riflemen, if there is no sign of any motorized rifles there," the channel said, claiming that members of the regiment "beg other units for anything more serious than a Kalashnikov."

"In essence, it is a rifle regiment," the channel said.

Since Kyiv launched its surprise incursion on August 6 in Kursk, which borders Ukraine's Sumy region, Ukrainian forces have seized control of 1,250 square kilometers (482 square miles) of Russian territory and 92 settlements in Kursk, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday.

The scale of the offensive is significant—Ukraine is now reported to have seized more territory in the Kursk region in days than Russia has captured in Ukraine since the beginning of the year. It also marks the first time that foreign troops have seized Russian territory since World War II.

Newsweek reached out to the Russian defense ministry for comment via email.

Russia has also been scrambling to redeploy a portion its troops from the front line in Ukraine to the Kursk region as Zelensky's men continue to swiftly seize territory. The Wall Street Journal on August 17 reported that some 5,000 personnel had already been redeployed from Ukraine to Kursk by August 13.

Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center and founder of R.Politik: Reality of Russian Politics, a political analysis firm, said it is "now evident that Moscow doesn't have an effective or swift military solution to this situation.

"Redirecting troops from the main front would mean falling into a well-laid trap," Stanovaya wrote in a thread on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"Announcing an urgent mobilization (and it's not feasible to send new recruits straight into battle) would lead to a conflict with society. I'm not sure Putin is ready for that just yet. This implies that the Ukrainian presence in Russian border regions could persist for months, if not years, and eventually, people may become accustomed to it."

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