When Russia’s ramshackle armies trundled into Ukraine a year ago, very few gave the defenders a chance.
After all, they’d spent eight years unsuccessfully trying to fight off pro-Russian separatists in the east of their country.
Russian forces looked good on parade but, behind the paint and uniforms, the military was corroded by corruption, graft and inefficiency. The signs were there early on, when units of Russia’s elite airborne troops were annihilated at Hostomel airfield near Kyiv. It took a just month for Russia’s chaotic and ramshackle columns to be thrown back from Kyiv.
Even inside Russia, at its most vital and secure bases, Ukrainian drone attacks have forced Russia’s most capable bombers to seek safety. Russia is now capitalising on its only advantage: sheer numbers of largely poorly trained troops and mercenaries. As Russia discovered early in the war, equipment is of little use unless troops have been properly trained to use it. This is especially so in combined arms warfare, the extremely difficult task of coordinating infantry, tanks artillery and air power.
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