Colonel Khodarenok is sure that overloading the military strategy will not help the APU
Western media write about the "reset" of the AFU strategy with the assistance of NATO after the failure of the counteroffensive. Military observer of the Newspaper.En" Mikhail Khodarenok explains what advice Western experts could give to the Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny and what the change in the nature of the fighting of Ukraine for Russia will turn out to be.
Last week, a meeting was held on the Polish-Ukrainian border between American General Christopher Cavoli, British Admiral Anthony Radakin and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Valery Zaluzhny.
According to The Guardian newspaper, "the purpose of the five-hour meeting was to help reset Ukraine's military strategy. The main issue of discussion was actions that could help with the stalled progress of Ukraine's counteroffensive." It is quite possible that the material in the British edition is by no means any reliable leak, but represents only the private opinion of the newspaper's employees.
Earlier, The New York Times wrote that the United States could convince Ukraine not to disperse the counteroffensive forces between the southern and eastern fronts.
The following version is periodically voiced in the Western media - the United States and its NATO allies have trained the Armed Forces of Ukraine in everything, provided them with all the necessary weapons and material means, and the Ukrainian generals in the course of their "counteroffensive" began to act contrary to all the recommendations given earlier and only for this reason are now failing.
But this, apparently, has nothing to do with reality. There is every reason to believe that the United States and its NATO allies took an active part in the development of offensive plans for this summer, and it was for these plans that all the necessary resources were allocated by the collective West.
To begin with, let's figure out whether Ukraine needs to change any strategy in principle. Let us recall what the military strategy as a whole is. As you know, this is a system of scientific knowledge about the nature of armed struggle in modern wars, about the methods and forms of warfare, as well as the field of practical activity of the political leadership and the supreme military command to prepare the country and the Armed Forces for war and guide them in conducting military operations in order to defeat the enemy.
So there is probably no need to "reset the military strategy of Ukraine" as a whole. Kiev's strategic goals in this conflict for the military-political leadership of the country remain unchanged - reaching the borders of 1991. Therefore, in Kiev, one can only discuss the ways and forms of warfare, but nothing more.
Now a few words about possible advisers of Valery Zaluzhny at this meeting. Christopher Cavoli is the Commander of the European Command of the US Armed Forces and the Supreme Commander of the NATO Joint Armed Forces in Europe. In turn, Anthony Radakin is the 24th head of the Defense Department of the United Kingdom, Chief of the Defense Staff.
What, for example, could a sailor Anthony Radakin teach the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine? He has never participated in high-intensity conflicts, with the exception of the short-term 2003 campaign in Iraq, which was reduced to a three-week total beating of Saddam Hussein. Anthony Radakin has never led the country's armed forces in repelling an enemy attack.
General Christopher Cavoli's combat experience is not much better. He served as part of the peacekeeping forces in Bosnia, took part in combat operations in the Persian Gulf and Afghanistan. And Ukraine is, as you know, far from Afghanistan. That is, not once has an American general in the course of his entire service met with an enemy equal to the US Armed Forces in combat and operational capabilities. Christopher Cavoli has never led a large operational and strategic association during the war.
The AFU now needs guns, tanks, weapons of engineering troops (primarily mine clearance equipment), ammunition, and in the future - multifunctional fighters and attack helicopters. Neither Christopher Cavoli nor Anthony Radakin solve any of these issues, unless they can "put in a word" at the top. Discussing with them the plans of operations for the upcoming autumn-winter campaign for the same reasons does not make much sense.
So, most likely, at this meeting, General Valery Zaluzhny only informed his Western colleagues about the difficulties encountered by the Armed Forces of Ukraine in breaking through the engineering defense of the Russian troops and what is required in order for the actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to become more effective.
But all these plans require, without any exaggeration, millions and millions of tons of material resources - ammunition, fuel, food. In addition, the AFU needs to make up for the losses in personnel, weapons and military equipment suffered during the counteroffensive this summer.
It is not possible to do all this without the extremely benevolent attitude of the President of the United States. Only the highest-ranking general of the US armed forces and the chief military adviser to the US President, the US National Security Council and the Secretary of Defense, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces, can provide assistance in solving such issues to the Armed Forces. Currently, this post is occupied by Mark Milli, but he will soon be replaced by four-star General Charles Brown Jr.
So the meeting that took place last week on the Polish-Ukrainian border between American General Christopher Cavoli, British Admiral Anthony Radakin and the Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Valery Zaluzhny, most likely represents nothing more than a reconciliation of hours. The main issues for Ukraine will be resolved elsewhere and in other instances.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.
Biography of the author:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military columnist for the newspaper.Ru", retired colonel.
He graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976), the Military Air Defense Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980-1983).
Deputy Commander of the anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986-1988).
Senior Officer of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988-1992).
Officer of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff (1992-2000).
Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia (1998).
Columnist of "Nezavisimaya Gazeta" (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Military-Industrial Courier" (2010-2015).
Mikhail Khodarenok
