Lessons of War in Ukraine

[sasha]

Hello all,

I am going to continue a series of texts concerning tactical lessons from recent wars, which we can implement in Arma in individual or group techniques or absorb into a mission scenario.

This one is about the war in Ukraine which has started about one month ago

Background:

In 2014 Ukraine was expected to sign Association agreement with EU. Russia was against it (from fear of NATO coming to Ukraine and from loosing economical and political ally) and pressed Ukrainian government hard to cancell EU association. When Ukrainian president Yanukovitch indeed cancelled it large scale protests started and grew into a full scale revolution. Yanukovitch was ousted and new pro-western government came into power.

At this stage Russia made everything to stop Ukraine from moving to EU and NATO. Like earlier in Georgia, this became an armed incursion. Crimea peninsula (with important naval bases and inhabited by Russian majority) was annexed from Ukraine openly by Russian army (with no resistance from demoralised Ukrainian army).

However, Russia continues to destabilise pro-western Ukraine (to stop its further movement to west) by covert operations aimed at organising insurgency in Ukrainian eastern regions, inhabited largely by ethnical Russians. Insurgents (separatists) demand either a separate state independent or within Russia, or at least federalisation of Ukraine which practically means Russian control and inability for Ukraine to move politically into EU or NATO

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_pro-Russian_unrest_in_Ukraine

Ukrainian Army has started counter-insurgency operation. Practically, there is now a full scale civil war in the east of Ukraine. This is a composition of forces (note that this resembles Arma 2 story at much):

BLUEFOR:

Ukrainian army - poorly trained and poorly motivated for civil war (but obtaining air force and heavy weapons and getting military advisers from US and Europe)

Ukraininan paramilitary volonteers - poorly trained and lightly armed but highly motivated (many of them are Ukrainian nationalists ready for fight with pro-russian insirgency)

OPFOR:

Local pro-russian guerrillas - several semiindependent poorly trained and sometimes criminal groups

Russian volonteers - groups of soldiers of fortune coming from Russia through unguarded Russian-Ukrainian border (veterans of Soviet Afghan war, Chechen war, Georgia war - ethnic Russians and sometimes Ossetians or Chechen nationals - most of them have military experience)

Russian specops - their presence is not proved officially but it is supposed that their role is/was crucial at initial stage of insurgency and as of military advisers

To this may be added 40 000 strong Russian army standing on Ukrainian border ready to move into Ukrainian East (as a political press on Ukraine)




Insurgents are concentrated in a number of towns and cities in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian army tactics is to move into insurgency areas, establish forward base and place road blocks on all major roads, obtain intelligence and destroy points of resistance. Ukrainian army uses Hind and Mi-8 helicopters intensively, thought insurgents destroyed 2 of them by Igla fire.



Insurgents also use tactics of ambushes and night assaults on road blocks.

The fight at Volnovakha was one of such assaults which was successful for insurgents and this is yet the largest loss for Ukrainian army during the war.

Ukrainian force consisted of around 50 men, 3 BMP-2, some cars and trucks. Instead of moving to open field and organising 360 degree overwatch camp the column stopped for the night right on road in wood. Insurgents, informed by locals of ukrainian camp location, at 5 am went close to te camp hiding in the wood and attacked. All vehicles were destroyed, and all soldiers either wounded or killed. In the morning insurgens retreated and local ambulances came to help wounded. Later on a group of Ukrainian soldiers came to the spot. Just a minutes after their arrival Ukrainian Hinds came flying low. Unfortunately for the army, coordination was poor, and it appears that air-to-ground friendly fire killed one soldier:



Same instance as seen from afar:


LESSON 1
In area where enemy might use MANPADs fly low and use flares

LESSON 2
Do not place camp in such terrain as wood or bush - place it far in the open to have good field of fire and prevent enemy coming close to you unnoticed

LESSON 3
Pay strong attention to coordination between ground forces and air units to avoid friendly fire

[sasha]

On 27th may separatist moved out from Donetsk city and occupied the airport, concentrating in and around. Ukrainian aviation and gunships attacked them destroying antiaircraft gun (likely zu-23) and killing tens (up to a hundred or more) of separatists. Just after the strike helibourne troop was landed who cleared the airport suffering only one wounded in the process. Separatists brought in reinforcements on several trucks but they were beaten back. The day was a devastating loss for separatists:

www.janes.com/article/38408/kiev-troops-retake-donetsk-airport


(watch VICE NEWS videos for more, they have got some amazing moments on camera)

LESSON 4
If you are fighting guerrila war against heavily armed enemy do not concentrate and do not go to face to face battle - you will be crashed.

[sasha]

One of the major lessons of war in Ukraine is this:

LESSON 5 - artillery is your most important tool

This is due to the fact that separatists' manpads were extreemely effective against Ukrainian Hinds and low flying Frogfoots. Also unconfirmed is the usage of high altitude antiaircraft missles (like Buk en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buk_missile_system) that completely cleared the skyes off Ukrainian planes. Artillery therefore could be deployed safe from air attacks and its role was immense in all battles of the war. This scenario now is a likely outcome in a regional wars where one or both sides posess large number of modern manpads and/or high altitude antiaircraft missles.





Separatist artillery, especially BM-21 "Grad" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BM-21_Grad were extreemely effective against columns, camps and large concentrations of Ukrainian forces. Here are some examples of artillery usage:

Separatist/Russian BM-21 shelling Ukrainian mechanized platoon/company position:





aftermath of another strikes:





One or a couple of artillery strikes (rockets from 4 trucks) could completely destroy a platoon or even larger size (up to a brigade or battalion) unit with tens of vehicles and armor destroyed by just one volley of missles. Casualties of such strike could easily reach tens and even hundreds of men. After the strike Grad trucks would quickly relocate to avoid retaliatory artillery counterfire. Artillery strikes took heavy toll on Ukrainians in August 2014 when their armored columns moved into Donbass trying to encircle DPR. In turn they were cut off and decimated by Grad strikes. Lots of armor and soldiers perished.

LESSON 6 - You don't need sophisticated A-10 Thunderbolts or Apaches or even those modern AT Javelins to wipe out entire enemy armored columns - you only need one old artillery battery and one forward observer who is skilled enough to provide correct coordinates of a target.

For example BM-21 Grad are quite outdated artillery pieces but they are mobile and very deadly if guided by skilled forward observer/artillery coordinator. These men being the eyes of the artillery groups on the ground were the most important soldiers during the war and reports here in Russia show that special forces on both sides were especially hunting those forward observers. It should be noted that well trained forward observer is a precios unit and not all of them in government and separatist forces know their profession well enough. Therefore much collateral damage and lots of civilian casualties occure during artillery barrages.

Just imagine all those scenarios created for Arma - raiding enemy camps, ambushing columns, attacking enemy bases, storming enemy forticications, clearing area from enemy infantry and armor. We lost so many lives and hours of gameplay to accomplish these missions while all we needed was one good artillery strike from far away safe distance...

Extreemely effective for making artillery fire even deadlier are hand made drones, as demonstrated by these videos:





Drones are now being used extensively despite the fact that UAVs can be hunted and shot down by infantry:





LESSON 7 - Small UAVs are very effective for finding targets for artillery and should be used whenever and wherever possible
LESSON 8 - Don't hesitate to hunt and shoot down enemy drones - its quite possible to destroy UAV by small arms fire

[sasha]

Btw, check how quickly men on drone video duck into building cover after first AGS rounds land nearby. Arma AI never do this and this makes Arma AI infantry extreemely unrealistic

[sasha]

Two very dramatic video of unsuccessfull separatists' attacks with two lessons.

No English subtitles so here is my description.

Video 1. Separatists' mechanized platoon with BTRs slowly advances through open field. Suddenly Ukrainian tank appears and separatists engage it with RPGs. Tank is not disabled and fires back destroying 2 BTRs and sending remains of the platoon into retreat.


LESSON 9 - Don't attack without sufficient AT power if enemy has tanks available for counterattack.

Video 2. Separatists infantry squad moves slowly to capture Ukrainian checkpoint. They act also as a scouting support for a tank which follows them close by. Regardless of tank presence separatists are engaged by Ukrainian firearms (most likely mg). Tank rolls ahead to provide cover but this doesn't stop Ukrainian fire from flanks. Soon every infantryman is either dead or wounded. Fate of cameraman is unknown


LESSON 10 - Tank is useless as cover for infantry if you don't know the direction from where enemy is firing at you.