To divide
With the increase in drone operations and changing combat tactics, Ukraine’s counteroffensive is moving away from NATO practice. Experts see this as an advantage.
Kiev – Ukraine has been defending itself against Russian attacks for 19 months and has surprised the Russian armed forces and their mentors with its steadfastness, and not just in the first few weeks. In spring 2022, fighters and soldiers thwarted a Russian invasion of Kiev and liberated the first cities attacked a few weeks after the war began. The first major counteroffensive took place in the fall of 2022, culminating in the liberation of the large city of Kherson.
And even though defensive attempts and counteroffensives have repeatedly stalled since then, and despite the lack of official numbers, many Ukrainian fighters are certainly wounded and killed at the front every day, there is no end in sight to the war in favor of from Russia. On the contrary: the counter-offensive will gain momentum again just before the winter of 2023 and has recently culminated in the most successful attack to date on a military center in Crimea, which has been occupied by Russia since 2014.
A US military expert praises Ukrainian troops for their use of small and medium-sized drones in warfare. (File photo) © Maxym Marusenko/imago-images.de
Ukraine’s tactics in the war against Russia: strategic change is key
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), this is because Ukraine has now – at least to some extent – abandoned Western and NATO military practices and is repeatedly choosing pragmatic approaches. Small infantry units whose advances are supported by precision strikes rather than complex NATO tactics that have been trained for months. At least that’s how politics and war expert Nataliya Bugayova, who researches current developments at the US institute, sees the situation.
For them, the Ukrainians’ change in strategy is at least one important reason for the current development that Ukraine may gradually liberate small areas of Russian-occupied territories. Furthermore, the smaller country has once again taken the “battlefield initiative” in the war against Russia and is advancing mainly in the areas of Bakhmut and Zaporizhzhia. Despite all the attempts of the well-trained Russian defense to prevent this. And Ukrainian tactics in the Black Sea have repeatedly cornered the Russian navy – a violent military attack on the naval headquarters on Friday is another setback for Russia.
Military expert on Ukraine war: Ahead of US in use of small drone systems
The US magazine Business-Insider also reports that Ukrainian troops would be unlikely to achieve their current successes without ingenuity and diversion from what they have trained many times over and spoke to a US soldier named “Jackie” who is now in Ukraine As an independent contractor, he trained soldiers in the Ukraine war and was previously deployed to the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In his eyes, Ukraine would have no choice but to operate in “guerilla mode” and with subterfuge, simply because the armed forces would be considered “inadequate by the standards of all NATO states” to penetrate the Russian front lines. Another strength of Ukraine is its handling of drones, said “Jackie” Business Insider: “Although we do not yet have a clear doctrine on how to deal with small drone systems, Ukraine’s emergency services are already quite advanced in this”, praises the military expert. (saka)