“The most important conclusions have already been made”: how is the special operation of the RF Armed Forces in Ukraine

The main feature of the special military operation (SVO), which the RF Armed Forces are carrying out in Ukraine, is the effectiveness of offensive operations with relatively small forces.

This conclusion was reached by experts interviewed by RT, commenting on the three months that have passed since the beginning of the entry of Russian troops into Ukraine.

“The tasks in Ukraine are carried out by the most trained units of the army and the National Guard.

Often they have to confront numerically superior enemy forces.

However, we see that almost always our guys achieve success, ”said Sergey Khatylev, ex-head of the anti-aircraft missile forces of the Russian Air Force special forces command, in an interview with RT.

According to the expert, the NMD demonstrated a high level of combat coherence between various types and branches of the troops.

It is this quality that the Russian Armed Forces have been honing in recent years in numerous exercises.

On February 23, the day before the announcement of the start of the NMD, in a video congratulation to the military, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that in recent years much has been done to modernize the country's armed forces, including to increase combat coherence.

Khatylev assessed the general level of interaction between different types and branches of the Russian troops deployed to Ukraine as high.

“Believe me, reasonable people in the West are of the same opinion.

Reconnaissance, artillery, aviation, special forces, and motorized rifles operate effectively in the NMD.

Of course, it does not do without mistakes, and the initial underestimation of the enemy is also obvious.

But I am sure that the most important conclusions have already been made by our command, ”the expert believes.

"Troops of constant readiness"

Experts called the use of battalion tactical groups (BTG) an important factor in the success of the SVO.

As of August 2021, there were 168 units of this type in the Russian army, while in 2016 there were only 66.

Last year, speaking at the Territory of Meanings youth educational forum, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the BTG is "in fact, troops of constant readiness."

The essence of the battalion tactical group lies in the fact that it is formed depending on the specifics of the assigned tasks and is capable of operating in isolation from the main forces.

The number of BTG can vary from 700 to 900 people.

• Russian servicemen on an armored personnel carrier in the Kharkiv region

• RIA News

Such units are staffed only by contract soldiers.

They are created for combat in motorized rifle and tank brigades on the basis of one battalion and the forces attached to it: artillery units, UAVs, engineering troops, air defense, army aviation, radiation, chemical and biological protection troops (RCBZ) and electronic warfare (EW).

BTGs can also be attached to anti-tank, sniper and medical units.

After the formation of a battalion tactical group, much attention is paid to the interspecific interaction of units in its composition and the development of unconventional approaches to the use of standard weapons.

“A well-trained battalion tactical group is self-sufficient and mobile.

In Ukraine, they perform tasks at the forefront, receiving the support of our artillery and aviation, ”Khatylev explained.

Another factor in the effectiveness of the SVO, according to experts, is the widespread use of weapons, which are usually referred to as high-precision weapons. 

According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, missiles of the Iskander, Caliber, Bastion complexes, various types of aviation ammunition, including the Kinzhal hypersonic ballistic missile, Krasnopol-type artillery shells, are used from the arsenal of high-precision weapons.

High-precision weapons allow Russia to destroy the enemy's most important infrastructure without loss, including in his deep rear.

Most often, missile strikes are carried out against headquarters, command posts, defense enterprises, warehouses with weapons, ammunition and fuel and lubricants.

“The technical superiority of the Russian Armed Forces is most clearly manifested in the use of aviation and high-precision weapons.

We mainly use it for a thorough undermining of the material and technical base of the enemy.

If reconnaissance does not let us down (identifies enemy targets and transmits their coordinates. -

), then the Armed Forces of Ukraine will experience an even more acute shortage of fuel, ammunition, equipment and various weapons, ”explained Sergei Suvorov, Candidate of Military Sciences, in a RT commentary.

In turn, Sergey Khatylev drew attention to the fact that high-precision weapons are currently being used to destroy the concrete engineering fortifications of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Donbass.

Accurate combat work is designed not to harm the civilian population, which is often covered by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and to minimize the loss of our servicemen.

“There are people in our country who resent the slow pace of the offensive in the Donbass.

But do not forget that since 2014 the enemy has been very thoroughly strengthened, and well-defended military facilities of Ukraine are often located next to residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure.

This was done on purpose, it is actually a human shield for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

So that civilians do not suffer and our troops do not suffer losses, we are forced to conduct thorough reconnaissance and hit with high accuracy on fortified areas, ”the expert emphasized.

According to Khatylev, the Russian army could have ensured a higher rate of advance in the Donbass, but then it would have been necessary to use the NATO tactics of massive missile, bomb and artillery strikes without regard for civilian casualties.

“We are not at war with the people of Ukraine.

Saving the lives of civilians and their own soldiers is much more important than the pace of the offensive.

Therefore, the NMD is completely different from, for example, US tactics in Iraq in 2003, when American ground forces entered destroyed cities, ”the analyst added.

Problems, conclusions, goals

According to experts, despite the generally successful actions of the RF Armed Forces, at certain stages of the special operation, not everything went smoothly.

In the early days, separate groups of Russian troops fell into ambushes, and in the subsequent fierce battles went on for almost every settlement. 

During the NWO, the Black Sea Fleet of Russia suffered serious losses.

At the end of March, after the Ukrainian Armed Forces shelled the port in Berdyansk, the Russian military sank the large landing ship Saratov.

In mid-April, after the detonation of ammunition, the recently repaired missile cruiser Moskva sank.

In addition, in the first weeks of the NMD, Kyiv was able to mobilize and form territorial defense units.

Currently, the Ukrainian authorities are striving to increase the size of the army to 1 million soldiers (before the start of the special operation, the Armed Forces of Ukraine numbered about 200 thousand people).

Experts believe that recruits will not have proper training, but sending them to the front is still capable of dragging out hostilities.

“Don't underestimate the enemy.

Moreover, NATO purposefully prepared Ukraine for a war with Russia and is now providing it with large-scale military assistance,” Sergei Khatylev emphasized.

In a conversation with RT, a military expert, a public figure from Kharkov, Mikhail Onufrienko, drew attention to the fact that the West was able to well equip the Armed Forces of Ukraine with drones, surveillance devices, high-quality communications and military intelligence.

At the same time, there is a shortage of these weapons in the Russian Armed Forces.

According to the analyst, the most difficult situation is with drones, which are widely used in modern armed conflicts for reconnaissance, target designation, fire adjustment and strikes against individual enemy targets.

The participants of the special operation lack UAVs of various types: from simple quadcopters / multicopters to large-sized devices.

• UAV "Eleron-3"

• © Ministry of Defense of Russia

“The Russian army has a lot of them in the nomenclature assortment, but in quantitative terms it is clearly not enough.

Meanwhile, drones should be consumables, and if they are lost, the army should instantly receive new ones,” Onufrienko said.

In addition to the shortage of drones, during the special operation certain problems were identified with the provision of communications, the expert says.

“We did not have time to switch to providing radio stations at the level of platoons and units.

In addition, state departments and law enforcement agencies use different communication systems that are incompatible with each other.

Radio stations are also consumables, and their mass deliveries are necessary, ”Onufrienko emphasized.

According to the expert, issues with equipping the units of the RF Armed Forces involved in the special operation with drones and the necessary equipment are being resolved, including through volunteer organizations.

However, public figures face constant problems at customs.

“There are legal conflicts.

For example, how is it necessary to formalize the same drones that should be handed over by volunteers to our troops in the Donbass?

It is impossible to transfer UAVs to military units through the Ministry of Defense due to strict rules for such equipment.

These and other issues need to be resolved as a matter of urgency so that our military personnel are provided with the necessary weapons as quickly as possible, without bureaucratic barriers, ”added Onufrienko.

At the same time, according to the expert, the experience gained from the NWO has already helped Russia solve a number of pressing problems.

As an example, Onufrienko named the functioning of civil-military administrations.

“At first, the work of the military-civilian administrations was based on personal initiative, in fact, on the bare enthusiasm of convinced people.

When the Russian state drew attention to this, their work became more efficient, and now a bill has already been introduced on their legislative design.

After its adoption, the liberated regions will have more opportunities to restore normal life.

I think that a reasonable solution will certainly be found in the situation with the supply of scarce weapons, ”concluded Onufrienko.