Day 1 of Combat
, Takeaways from available information:
1.Russians broke with their own doctrine of relying on heavy, concentrated support fires. 1/
2.Failure to prepare the operational area with adequate preparatory fire to break up and destroy Ukrainian defenses was a critical hinderance 2/
3.Russians allowed themselves to dilute their own strength by advancing (and dividing their forces & fires) along 4 axis of advance. None were capable of achieving their objectives as a result. 3/
4.Insufficiently supported troops failed to achieve necessary tactical breakthroughs with strategic implications for the battlespace 4/
5.Airborne/Air Assault forces cannot operate well against even a semi-intact air defense network, or in contested airspace. 5/
6.Airborne/Air Assault insertions against superior local forces are an expensive waste of highly trained manpower. 6/
7.Commando actions ala Joachim Piper in the Ardennes 1944, in Kyiv, did not achieve much success. Commando infiltration of Kyiv a major success prior to operations – massive Ukrainian security failure. 7/
8.Russian morale is lower than expected. Some units appear to have anticipated being met with grateful Ukrainian crowds instead of stiff opposition. 8/
9.Leadership at the Platoon, Company & Battalion level highly questionable in some units based on behavior. 9/
10.Russian troops are ‘green’ overall, noticeable reluctance to dismount APCs/IFVs and provide infantry screen for the armor when in contact. Heavy resulting casualties vs man portablt anti-tank weapons 10/
11.Overall battleplan’s basic assumptions on opposition levels and Russian capability fundamentally flawed. Command & Control rigid and inflexible. 11/
12.Ukrainians delayed mobilization far too long. Decision not to hold on the Dnieper politically more viable than abandoning East Ukraine, but possibly a critical strategic failure militarily. 12/
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RealCynicalFox