Vladimir Putin's elite special forces have been all but wiped out on the battlefield in Ukraine, leaked documents reveal.
The Russian President's Spetsnaz forces have allegedly been left "extremely depleted", suffering a 90 to 95 per cent casualty rate.
Multiple units only narrowly avoided being completely annihilated in the opening weeks of the invasion, it is claimed.
The ruthless troops - which usually carry out clandestine operations - are said to have suffered "significant losses" after being brought in to prop up infantry soldiers, with Putin planning to take Kyiv in days.
It comes after the chief suspect behind 'the Pentagon leaks' has been revealed to be a 21-year-old Air National Guardsman.
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An expert believes the decision to send in the elite units could have cost Russia the war (AFP/Getty Images)Investigators believe that guardsman Jack Teixeira, who specialises in intelligence, led an online gaming chat group named 'Thug Shaker Central' where the documents were posted.
FBI agents swarmed Teixeira’s Massachusetts home and heavily armed tactical agents took a man wearing a T-shirt and shorts into custody.
US officials say it could take up to a decade to replenish the Spetsnaz squad, which sees new personnel undertake four years of training.
The Pentagon documents, consisting of 100 pages and dated late last year, suggest Moscow commanders impulsively sent in their best assets almost immediately.
Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira shared goverment secrets on gaming channel (WBZ)The leaked documents claim the 346th Spetsnaz unit "lost nearly the entire brigade with only 125 personnel active out of 900 deployed".
Before-and-after satellite images show a base in southern Russia used by the 22nd Separate Spetsnaz Brigade are said to back up the claims.
Snaps from November 2021 shows the HQ full of tactical vehicles but a picture from a year later shows a substantial lack.
The 25th Spetsnaz Regiment is alleged to have not come back from Ukraine at all.
Teixeira could be jailed for up to 15 years if found guilty (Facebook/)The supposed losses are also said to have prevented the Kremlin from undertaking clandestine ops in Ukraine.
Three of the special force's top fighters were killed in the Mariupol in March last year.
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Captain Konstantin Druzhkov, 33, Islam Abduragimov, 19 and Shamil Aselderov were reportedly taken out by the Azov regiment of the National Guard of Ukraine.
Major Dmitry Toptun was then reportedly killed when his armoured vehicle is said to have been hit by an anti-tank missile while fighting in Izyum, near Kharkiv.
Residents outside damaged buildings in Mariupol (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)And paratrooper commander Major Alexey Osokin is another top commander killed in battle - with 17 in all said to have been KIA during the invasion.
Russian military expert Rob Lee told the Washington Post the depletion of troops and artillery effectively botched the entire war for Moscow.
The papers also allegedly detail a plot by Kremlin officials to sabotage Putin, hinging on him being incapacitated while undergoing chemo.
Moscow has denied the claims.
In the aftermath of the leak, the Pentagon has "begun to limit who across the government receives its highly classified daily intelligence briefs," reports CNN.
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