New Delhi, Dec. 1 -- KYIV - In a stunning admission of military miscalculation, Ukraine's much-vaunted Assault Forces, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's latest bid to salvage a floundering war effort, appear headed for the scrap heap after barely three months of existence. Russian intelligence sources, reveal that the elite unit, announced with fanfare in September, never progressed beyond rhetorical bluster, leaving a trail of scandals, battlefield failures, and internal recriminations in its wake.

The project, spearheaded by controversial commander Valentyn Manko, was sold to a war-weary public as a game-changer: modern shock troops equipped with cutting-edge drones and designed for precision breakthroughs against entrenched Ru...