Russia-Ukraine war: The mistakes of the renewed Russian military in the offensive that began

Moscow.- Russia It has invested billions of dollars and re-trained its military for more than a decade On A small and well-equipped professional force It can stand to the west.

But three weeks after its invasion of Ukraine, its first real test, the Russian military is in turmoil. That Western intelligence services assess As of last week, 5,000 to 6,000 Russian soldiers had been killed.Among them, some have no military training or no military training.

The dead included four Russian generals – 20% of those serving in Ukraine – as well as several senior generals, according to Ukrainian war reports. According to Western officials, these Russian generals were close to the front line, a sign that lower-ranking officers in custody were unable to make decisions or were afraid to do so.

According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, after the collapse of its encrypted communications system, Russian troops began to use open telephones and analog radios, which are highly vulnerable to interception or interception. Military investigators believe they were targeted when Russian officials exposed their position using an open telephone.

Earlier this month, Ukrainian forces repulsed an attack on a strategic city of volunteers and professional soldiers. VoznesenskOne of the most severe setbacks Russian troops have faced since invading Ukraine.

Russia’s defeats range from the Kremlin’s misconceptions about the Ukrainian opposition to the lack of motivation of Russian soldiers. Both the Kremlin and the West claim these shortcomings They overestimated the renewal of the Russian Armed Forces, It has been tarnished by corruption and misinformation, according to some military analysts.

Michael Kaufman, director of Russia’s research at CNA, says the military is not ready for a major offensive against a country that is fighting hard for its homeland, despite the Russian military’s previous efforts, military exercises and small operations in Syria. Organization based in Arlington, Virginia.

“The Russians do not have to manage such a large military force in real war situations,” Kaufman says. “Those maneuvers they’ve been showing us for years are very scripted and staged events, and they’re more like theater than anything else.”

There is no doubt, however, that Russian forces occupied territories in the south and east of the country against a small and low-armed enemy. Moreover, Russian military commanders can learn from their mistakes and adapt their forces to the new offensive.

According to Western military analysts, Although Moscow’s armed forces will eventually defeat Ukraine’s, it will not mark the end of the war, but the beginning of an uprising that could ensnare Russian forces for years to come.. Moscow’s stated military goals – to overthrow the government and establish Russian control over a harmonious population – seem far-fetched.

But for now, Ukrainian forces have pushed back Russian paramedics trying to secure the airports. Endless tanks and military vehicles are stranded on the roads due to lack of fuelShows satellite images and videos taken by Ukrainian soldiers. Hundreds of Russian vehicles have been destroyed and others abandoned According to Western military officials and analysts who closely follow the campaign, due to mechanical malfunction or faulty equipment.

Ukraine is responsible for shooting down more than 80 planes and 100 helicopters, but very few have been independently verified. Western authorities are surprised that Russia does not use its air superiority to defend the command of the sky.

But Russian warplanes flying over Ukraine are still wreaking havoc on civilians. Mayor Mariupol condemned Wednesday The Russian Air Force dropped bombs on the municipal theaterThe people who took refuge in that place died.

According to a NATO official, the Russian style of combat surprised Western audiences because it did not match Russia’s military policy of using mobile units – “battalion tactical units” – and an integrated troop command system. The enemy does not have to enter Ukrainian territory dangerously with supply lines.

“for now, They got stuckThe official said Russia was trying to return to the military by mobilizing “civilian trucks and cars” from across the country, where they could be used by the military.

A major weakness in the Russian campaign is the lack of coordination between its branches of the armed forces.According to military analysts, including Andrew Monaghan of the Wilson Center, a Washington-based foreign policy think tank, this has created problems in redeploying troops into Ukraine and coordinating the offensive.

“There are certain aspects of Russia’s military history that happen again and again in every war in Russia, whether they win or lose,” Monaghan said. “In complex operations, they will always have considerable difficulties with logistics and command issues.”

That poor logistics was a great obstacle to the progress of the Russians, who always preferred to use trains to carry men and ammunition. But because they failed to capture the Ukrainian cities where major rail junctions are located, the Russians are forced to use the routes, which makes them easy targets.

Military analysts believe that Russia’s largest military force will come from the north to Qi on the border with Belarus, where Russian troops carried out military maneuvers in the months leading up to the invasion. But progress toward the Ukrainian capital from that and other ends has slowed or stopped altogether.

The Russian invasion began to give way from day one. Following the rocket bombing of Ukraine’s largest airports and military infrastructure in the early hours of February 24, Russia failed to make progress in kyiv. If the capture of the military airport at Hostomal, 35 kilometers from the city, were successful, the Russians could send hundreds of paratroopers to the suburbs of the capital. That failure delayed early progress.

Ukrainian units coordinated a multi-pronged attack on the first wave of Russian paratroopers, landed at the airport, evacuated them and forced the Russians to abandon plans to drop more troops from the airspace, according to the first accounts of the two soldiers involved. During the attack, fights and videos and pictures of clashes at Aerotrome.

Then came a National Guard column from Chechnya, a region loyal to Russia, which was destroyed while trying to retrieve the airport. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said only two soldiers had been killed in the operation.

Monagan says that lack of coordination reveals the characteristic of the Russian armed forces and the difficulties in organizing military action.While there is no indication that the lack of coordination in the hostom was intentional, there are many past examples of commanders refusing to work together or help each other.

“The communication problem between the Armed Forces and Rosquartia seems to have been high,” Monahan told the National Guard.

Thomas Grove

Translation of Jaime Arrambide