Ukrainian Warfare Tactics Derail Russians

By Kris Osborn – President & Editor-In-Chief, Warrior Maven

The intensity and tactical proficiency of Ukrainian warfare may be having an extremely significant and perhaps somewhat unanticipated impact upon Russia’s ability to successfully invade Ukraine with a much larger ground force armed with massive amounts of firepower.

Ukrainian Warfare Tactics

These Ukrainian tactics, apparently include things like dispersed, hit-and-run anti-armor ambushes on approaching Russian convoys and efforts to find, destroy or disrupt intersections and key choke points crucial to a Russian advance.

“Ukrainian armed forces are over performing and Russian armed forces are underperforming,” Gen. Ben Hodges (Ret), former Commander of US Army Europe, told The National Interest in an interview.

The Pentagon says the much-observed Russian convoy is likely stalled for a number of interwoven reasons. Senior DoD officials say the Russian problem appear to be due to logistical challenges such as fuel and food shortages, low morale and successful Ukrainian ambush tacticsf Hodges said the apparent lack of coordination and warfare preparation on the part of the Russian force seems somewhat surprising.

“The logistics are turning out to be a real vulnerability for the Russians. You would think they would be much better prepared in terms of fuel and ammunition. They grossly overestimated how fast they have been able to move and now this big convoy is roadbound because the road is so soft and the Ukrainians are having an effect,” Hodges told Warrior in an interview.

However, Hodges was also clear that he observed what appears to be a specific Russian tactical shift to “adapt” amid their struggles. This adaptation, he said, pertains to an effort to attempt a war of “attrition” by killing civilians instead of launching a well-integrated joint campaign.

“We know from history that neither side shows up at a fight fully prepared for how it is going to be. It is the side that adapts the fastest is usually the side that is going to win. The Russians have begun to adapt their tactics because they were stopped in the early days. They transitioned to attrition and striking villages. Ukrainians will quickly adapt to this, as they can’t just sit inside a town and expect to survive. They will use their knowledge of the terrain,” Hodges said.