Russian war communications gave away gains to Ukraine
Photo credit Twitter @UkraineWarVideo
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, June 27: Sixteen months after launching ‘special operations’ against Ukraine, Russia is now facing war within, as private military company Wagner seemingly stunned Russian President Vladimir Putin for an unexpected turn of event in his ambitious plan launched on February 24 last year to capture Kiev within a few days.
But Putin’s plan was rooted in the 20th century warfare, claimed an essay by Lieutenant General Jasbir Lidder (Retd) – Russia-Ukraine War: Military Strategy and Operational Art. The essay is part of the book – Gyan Chakra on India’s Military Strategy, which was released yesterday.
“…the Russians embarked on a major war using cell phones and old-fashioned radios, which were successfully intercepted by the UAF (Ukrainian Armed Forces), resulting in targeted fatalities, with overreliance on technology becoming a single point of failure,” wrote Lt. Gen. (retd) Lidder in the book, which has essays by several strategic thinkers on contemporary issues.
He further argued that the UAF maintained an edge in both strategic and operational intelligence, “the inputs being provided by a vast variety of AI tools, commercial satellites or drones, NATO inputs, and open source extraction”. The cellphone-based Delta system provides the UAF with an understanding of the battle space in real-time, by integrating intelligence and command and control functions, he further wrote in the book.
Lt. Gen (Retd) Lidder concurred with the views held by several commentators that Russia-Ukraine War is now in a stalemate situation, with attritions being watched out for clues on the future course.
“Russian forces failed to conduct effective EW (electromagnetic) during the war’s opening phase, their unencrypted communications providing a wealth of intelligence to Ukraine. The UAF learnt to manage its cyber defence as the ear progressed, actively supported by NATO cyber security systems, commercialised sources, and a volunteer Ukraine vigilante cyber-army,” added the military veteran, who is a Grenadier 1971 War veteran.
He also reasoned that Russia is facing logistics challenge, arguing that vintage rail-and-road-based support system has proved unsuitable for the high attrition expeditionary operations. The war veteran also stated that the structure of the armies of the two countries is also making a difference in the outcome of the war.
“The Russian army is inclined to template WWII prescriptions, hesitating to restructure and re-strategise…Ukraine’s investment in developing an empowered non-commissioned officer corps is proving to be the edge. The UAF has transformed over the years with socio-economic contracts, and built a command climate that encourages operational innovation and specialised skills demanded by modern conflicts,” he added.
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