A burning Russian Armored personnel carrier. And some of its former personnel.
The fighting in many parts of Ukraine has been tremendously hard. Ukrainian soldiers have proven themselves incredibly tough and fearless, as have Ukrainian civilians. By now, the videos of Ukrainians driving up to Russian tankers to chastise them for being in the wrong country, or of Ukrainian soldiers casually strolling through automatic weapon fire to level a anti-tank weapon at ranks of Russian vehicles have become so common that they’re like a meme which gets reinforced by the hour.
To put in terms that science fiction fans will understand, the Ukrainians are looking like the Sardaukar, Dorsai, and the Colonial Space Marines all rolled into one. They deserve every ounce of praise and admiration they’ve been getting. They don’t just have the swagger, they have the hard-won results to go with it. “Russian warship, go fuck yourself,” is going to be the “Nuts!” of the 21st century.
But still … Here’s an article from Popular Mechanics that happened to drop just hours before Russia launched its invasion. In it, the author describes how the upgraded and reorganized Russian war machine would roll through Ukraine using a modernized method of arranging its forces into “Battalion Tactical Groups.” These groups are designed to have flexibility. They’re designed to let every part of Russia’s expansive set of military hardware and hundreds of thousands of experienced troops work to their advantage. Check out this description of how a BTG would use a mixture of tools to take a bridge away from Ukraine.
“The BTG commander could first send reconnaissance patrols and his flying drones to probe enemy lines, then call up his self-propelled howitzers and mortars to pound their positions. Two motor rifle companies of 20 BMP vehicles, plus infantry, rumble toward the front line, protected by Pantsir-S1 air-defense vehicles watching the skies over them. Once the motor rifle troops penetrate enemy lines, the BTG commander calls up his ten T-80 tanks, ordering them to exploit the penetration and push on. The BTG’s air defense and anti-tank troops then defend the bridge against enemy counterattacks.”
Yeah, that sounds formidable. But it is nothing like what’s been happening at that bridge at Kherson. It’s nothing like what we’ve seen anywhere in Ukraine. Russia hasn’t been fighting with one hand behind its back—Putin has now deployed two-thirds of the forces arrayed around Ukraine at the onset of the conflict, and the troops and equipment busted up outside Kyiv on Sunday morning were among the best Russia has to field. But the organization, logistics, deployment … it’s all been awful.
Why its been awful will be interesting to learn. After Putin is gone.
![TOPSHOT - This photograph taken on February 27, 2022 shows a Russian Armoured personnel carrier (APC) burning next to unidentified soldier's body during fight with the Ukrainian armed forces in Kharkiv. - Ukrainian forces secured full control of Kharkiv on February 27, 2022 following street fighting with Russian troops in the country's second biggest city, the local governor said. (Photo by Sergey BOBOK / AFP) / The mention [next to unidentified soldier's body] has been added to the caption and the erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by Sergey BOBOK has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: [February 27] instead of [February 26]. Please immediately remove the erroneous mention[s] from all your online services and delete it (them) from your servers. If you have been authorized by AFP to distribute it (them) to third parties, please ensure that the same actions are carried out by them. Failure to promptly comply with these instructions will entail liability on your part for any continued or post notification usage. Therefore we thank you very much for all your attention and prompt action. We are sorry for the inconvenience this notification may cause and remain at your disposal for any further information you may require. (Photo by SERGEY BOBOK/AFP via Getty Images)](https://images.dailykos.com/images/1042781/story_image/GettyImages-1238802925.jpg?1645981408 "TOPSHOT - This photograph taken on February 27, 2022 shows a Russian Armoured personnel carrier (APC) burning next to unidentified soldier's body during fight with the Ukrainian armed forces in Kharkiv. - Ukrainian forces secured full control of Kharkiv on February 27, 2022 following street fighting with Russian troops in the country's second biggest city, the local governor said. (Photo by Sergey BOBOK / AFP) / The mention [next to unidentified soldier's body] has been added to the caption and the erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by Sergey BOBOK has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: [February 27] instead of [February 26]. Please immediately remove the erroneous mention[s] from all your online services and delete it (them) from your servers. If you have been authorized by AFP to distribute it (them) to third parties, please ensure that the same actions are carried out by them. Failure to promptly comply with these instructions will entail liability on your part for any continued or post notification usage. Therefore we thank you very much for all your attention and prompt action. We are sorry for the inconvenience this notification may cause and remain at your disposal for any further information you may require. (Photo by SERGEY BOBOK/AFP via Getty Images)")
Comments are closed on this story.