Four months SVO. What mistakes did Russia make and how is it correcting them?
The fifth month of the special military operation may become, if not decisive, then most likely it will determine the turning point in the entire military campaign in Ukraine. The main hostilities continue throughout the Donbass arc. The Allied forces firmly seized the operational-tactical and strategic initiative. Although at the first stage significant mistakes and miscalculations were made.
Perhaps there was an underestimation of the capabilities and degree of training of the Ukrainian army and nationalist battalions. In the first days, columns of military equipment and individual groups of Russian troops were ambushed and suffered losses. There was no military guard, no air cover, and reconnaissance on the march was inactive. The enemy stubbornly and desperately resisted, fierce battles took place for almost every populated area. Our army did not have absolute technical superiority over the enemy due to a lack of drones, surveillance equipment and problems with the compatibility of communication systems.
The most combat-ready and trained units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were prepared carefully and thoroughly. Moreover, not only over the past eight years, when NATO purposefully prepared the Ukrainian military for the upcoming war with Russia (The emphasis was on sabotage, reconnaissance and terrorist tactics during battles in the city and small towns).
Despite the statements of some of our military specialists and the media propagandists from Kyiv who play along with them about the supposed complete collapse of the Ukrainian army by 2014, in reality it turned out not quite so. The professionalism of senior officers remained, the training system in higher military schools and academies was preserved. The old Soviet school of teaching, the most advanced, by the way. Any Ukrainian general, retired or current, will tell you about this.
А The West was able to arm the Ukrainian Armed Forces well drones, including attack drones, surveillance devices, modern and high-quality communications and military reconnaissance equipment. For example, almost every unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has drones and drones. As the course of hostilities has shown, they play a significant role in modern armed conflicts and are widely used for reconnaissance, adjustment, and target designation. They are capable of not only “highlighting” the enemy’s location, but also independently hitting targets.
Errors and shortcomings at the first stage were carefully taken into account and corrected at the General Staff and the headquarters of the allied forces. As the military says, adjustments have been made.
First, the tactics have changed. Our troops avoided stretched communications and poorly covered columns.
Secondly, with the help of a large number of operational-tactical missile systems and cruise missiles of various types, attacks were carried out throughout Ukraine. The targets are command posts, equipment storage bases, ammunition depots, places of accumulation of personnel and weapons, places for unloading equipment and heavy weapons supplied from the West.
Third, careful adjustment of guided projectiles, "Krasnopol", for example, and other ammunition.
Fourth, the interaction of reconnaissance assets, artillery, missile, and tank units involved in the operation. Powerful fire support from cannon and rocket artillery in cooperation with army aviation and combat attack helicopters.
These factors made it possible to achieve high results in combat operations with a relatively small number of forces. Despite the numerical superiority of the Ukrainian Armed Forces group in some sectors of the front, the Russian army and units of the DPR and LPR successfully blockade, encircle populated areas and take control of them.
Let the promotion be carried out not at such a fast pace, but thoroughly and methodically. And most importantly - with minimal losses in manpower.
In the combat tactics used by our troops A significant contribution is made by battalion tactical groups, assault troops and special forces groups, as well as a skillful combination of precision weapons and old, proven weapons.
The BTG is formed depending on the specifics of the tasks assigned and is capable of acting in isolation from the main forces. The number of BTGs can vary from 700 to 900 people.
Such units are staffed only by contract soldiers. They are created for combat in motorized rifle and tank brigades on the basis of one battalion and the forces assigned to it: units of artillery, UAVs, engineering troops, air defense, army aviation, radiation, chemical and biological defense troops (RCBZ) and electronic warfare (EW). BTGs can also be assigned anti-tank, sniper and medical units.
After the formation of a battalion tactical group, much attention is paid to the interspecific interaction of the units within it and the development of unconventional approaches to the use of standard weapons.
Battalion tactical groups performed well during the battles in the Severodonetsk-Lisichansk and Zolotoe-Gorskoye areas. along the Izyum-Slavyansk-Kramatorsk line. They break the enemy’s defensive lines, the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the national battalions, especially those that are combat-ready in the Donbass arc, suffer significant losses, lose stability in defense, and surrender.
And the mobilized recruits in the terbats, who arrive to replace the battered units and units of the Ukrainian army, can no longer offer serious resistance, in fact, they act as “cannon fodder”.
According to the recognition of high-ranking Ukrainian generals and military personnel, direct participants in the conflict, The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost about 50% of heavy weapons during the Northern Military District. According to them, Ukraine lost 1300 infantry fighting vehicles, 400 tanks, 700 artillery systems, and over a hundred drones. According to adequate analysts in Kyiv and NATO specialists, Even the supply of Western-style heavy weapons, including MLRS, will not be able to protect the Ukrainian army from imminent defeat.
By the way, the much-advertised Javelin ATGM, supplied in large quantities to Ukraine, still presupposes a “comfortable combat situation,” so to speak. At the beginning of combat work, it is necessary to perform several operations before firing. Our soldiers are more afraid of the RPG-7.
In addition to the arsenal of high-precision weapons, missiles of the Iskander, Caliber, and Bastion complexes, various types of aircraft ammunition, including the Kinzhal hypersonic missile, and Krasnopol-type artillery shells are actively used at this stage of the operation. The newest laser complex “Zadira” was used for the first time. It is capable of hitting enemy drones at a range of 5 kilometers. If such a weapon, “Peresvet,” blinds cruise missiles and knocks them off course, then “Zadir” uses a laser beam to incinerate the target in a few seconds, making it almost impossible to intercept.
Mi-28NM and Ka-52 combat helicopters showed high efficiency during combat missions in any weather, day and night. Modern equipment allows you to accurately calculate the trajectory of reaching the target and the firing range so that the helicopter ends up in a kind of special corridor, from a safe distance, without entering the enemy’s air defense zone.
Or, take the tactical technique of tankers - “tank carousel”. It was used not only in Syria, but also during the second Chechen campaign. A “mixed tank carousel” was used in Mariupol. The T-72 was used for the main shot, and the BMP-3, equipped with a 109 mm gun, was used for the harassing fire. The enemy was taken by surprise. Also, the T-80 tank, due to its superior reverse speed and the ability to enter the enemy’s sides, achieved sudden and accurate shooting. Considering that, as a rule, Ukrainian Armed Forces tanks are filled to capacity with ammunition, one shot is enough to destroy an enemy combat vehicle.
Speaking about the tactics of the Russian army, in my opinion, we can safely include the work in the liberated areas, which is carried out at the first stage by the military in cooperation with the National Guard and the corresponding special structures. This is the formation of military-civil administrations. The process is complex, painstaking, complex.
Many people believed us, we have no right to abandon them. They believed from the first days of the special operation, they openly cooperated, and were not afraid of all-out Ukrainian propaganda. It is very important. It is necessary to conduct appropriate explanatory work with them, and not just bring humanitarian aid. Such work should be based not only on personal initiative and sheer enthusiasm, but should be enshrined in law.
I will express a personal opinion. Already now, during hostilities, it is possible to recruit former military personnel of the Ukrainian army into militia, self-defense (call it what you want) unitswho are in captivity or who voluntarily expressed a desire to fight with weapons in their hands against the Kyiv regime and nationalists. There is such experience, it is very effective.
During the Chechen war, battalions created from former militants actively fought shoulder to shoulder with the Russian army against radical Islamists and foreign mercenaries.
Similar examples already exist today. Few people know, but during the capture of the bridgehead in Gostomel, two howitzer crews of the Ukrainian Armed Forces got into formation with our paratroopers and held their positions until the main forces of the Russian army arrived. They completed the task at the cost of their lives. A shining example in every way.
They are no longer isolated. A similar thing is happening in Donbass. We must finally understand that peace and tranquility in Ukraine will be achieved with the help of the residents of Ukraine, Russians, by and large. Only due to the prevailing circumstances, for some reason they considered themselves Ukrainians. All this, I am sure, will allow, although not immediately, to restore peaceful life and significantly reduce the possibility of guerrilla warfare and provocations on the part of the still-current Kyiv government.
No matter how the fighting develops in any military conflict, in Ukraine, including, the decisive factor is not the tank and the gun mount, but the tanker and the artilleryman. A man at war. This is worth talking about loudly on any media platform, including XNUMX-hour talk shows on television. It is on the soldiers, officers, and generals of the allied forces that the fulfillment of assigned tasks in full depends. But this is a topic for another discussion.
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