The Kremlin is cobbling together military forces to defend against Ukraine’s cross-border incursion into Russia’s Kursk region.

British military officials said a Specialized Motor Rifle Regiment of Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) personnel is among the non-infantry units now being thrown into the fray.

The VKS troops now battling Ukrainian forces on the front line in Kursk include those previously trained as early warning radar operators and members of long-range bomber units, U.K. military intelligence officials posted Wednesday on X.

“Diverting personnel from these previously high priority areas likely demonstrates continuing personnel shortages,” British officials said. “By employing them in an infantry role, they are also being misused, which could reduce Russian capability to retake territory in the Kursk Oblast.”

Russia continually creates new units and recruits more personnel to sustain its strategy of throwing troops at Ukraine in hopes of overwhelming them by numbers alone. The high casualty rates from Russia’s attrition warfare mean they are forced to replenish the ranks of frontline infantry personnel continually.

Such a strategy, “will almost certainly continue to limit Russia’s ability to generate higher capability units,” British officials said.

• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.