Urban combat is not a new phenomenon. At the same time, what is happening in Ukraine is not what many researchers and military states have envisioned, according to Kristin Ljungkvist.
"This is not consistent with how a modern interstate war is envisaged on the European continent," she says.
In her research, she has studied the type of urban environment that NATO, the US and the UK trained for. It is primarily about meeting terrorists and various rebels with fewer resources in internal conflicts in failing states, who benefit from hiding among civilians.
"In regular warfare between states, combat in cities is traditionally seen as a minor part and the main battle takes place in the terrain.
But Ukraine is thus a war between states on the European continent, largely played out in cities.
Major losses
Fighting inside cities is extremely difficult, according to Kristin Ljungkvist, and can lead to major losses for everyone involved, not least civilians.
According to Kristin Ljungkvist, Russia is not very good at this type of combat and uses what she calls medieval methods.
"They know they'll be beaten if they go in. Therefore, they bomb everything they can, completely in violation of the laws of war, before they then go in taking the very last, she says.
According to her, it is far from the context in which NATO, the United States and the United Kingdom envisaged urban warfare to take place when they developed their handbooks for urban warfare.