Video Above: US & NATO Air Superority
By Kris Osborn – President & Editor-In-Chief, Warrior Maven
Ukrainian fighters are now widely known to be effective using tactics intended to slow, stop or fully destroy invading Russian forces. The much discussed Russian vehicle “convoy” seems to have essentially been stopped or slowed down considerably through the use of enterprising Ukrainian war tactics.
Ukrainian War Tactics
Some of these include staging hit and run ambushes, attacking advancing Russian forces when they are more vulnerable at key choke points such as intersections, bridges or other narrowly configured passageways. Using their knowledge of the terrain to their advantage, Ukrainian fighters are attacking the well-known Russian convoy with anti-armor weapons.
In coordination with these efforts, the Ukrainians have also been employing additional tactics such as specific efforts to find and destroy Russian supply lines, equipment and methods of sustainment, a senior DoD official told reporters March 14, according to a Pentagon transcript of the discussion.
“They’re not simply going after combat capability, tanks and armored vehicles and shooting down aircraft — although they’re doing all that — they are also deliberately trying to impede and prevent the Russians’ ability to sustain themselves,” the official said.
For weeks now, the Pentagon has been clear that the Russians were experiencing fuel, food and supply shortages along with recognizable morale problems. Perhaps these sustainment problems were not accurately anticipated in Putin’s war plan?
Or, as suggested by the Senior DoD official, perhaps deliberate Ukrainian tactics were being employed to identify and destroy seemingly difficult to reach supply areas behind the front lines. Once the location of supply lines is found by Ukrainian forces, then they can be attacked in an optimal way depending upon Ukrainian intelligence information and available manpower and weapons.
Given how well Ukrainians are likely to know the roads, cities and passageways throughout their homeland, Ukrainian fighters may know specific areas to hide in defilade in anticipation of a Russian convoy, only to then surprise ambush the supply lines once the main armored attack weapons have passed by, leaving the trailing supply areas extremely vulnerable to NATO attack.
Kris Osborn is the Defense Editor for the National Interest. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Master’s Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
