RECOMMENDED | Modern positional warfare and how to win in it

Having launched the large-scale armed aggression against Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation provoked the beginning of an unprecedented global security crisis, the largest since the end of the Second World War. Russian great-power chauvinism multiplied by unhealthy imperial ambitions gradually turns the military conflict it initiated in the center of Europe into an armed confrontation between democratic and authoritarian political regimes, with the prospect of its spread to other regions of the planet with similar geopolitical models (Israel and the Gaza Strip, South and North Koreas, Taiwan and China, etc.). The insufficient effectiveness of the existing global political regulatory mechanisms, primarily the UN and the OSCE, leaves Ukraine no choice but to restore its territorial integrity after the large-scale armed aggression within the internationally recognized borders of 1991, exclusively by military force, in which its Armed Forces (AF) play a decisive role.

Having entered the war against a stronger enemy, which possesses a significant amount of weaponry and much greater mobilization capabilities, Ukraine was not only able to halt the advance but also to conduct a successful counteroffensive in 2022, pushing the enemy back along many fronts. The people of Ukraine have demonstrated their willingness not just in words, but in actions, to lay down their lives for their freedom. However, due to many subjective and objective reasons, the war at the present stage is gradually transitioning to a positional form, a situation from which, historically, it has always been difficult for both the Armed Forces and the state as a whole to extricate themselves. At the same time, the prolongation of a war, as a rule, tends to benefit one of the parties to the conflict. In our particular case, it is the Russian Federation, as it provides the opportunity to reconstitute and build up its military power. Therefore, understanding the causes of such a situation, finding possible ways out of it, and changing the nature and course of this war in favor of Ukraine are particularly relevant in current conditions.

An analysis of the current situation in which the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other components of the state Defense Forces are placed shows that in order to find a way out of the positional form of warfare, it is necessary to: gain air superiority; breach mine barriers in depth; increase the effectiveness of counter-battery operations; create and train the necessary reserves; and build up electronic warfare (EW) capabilities. Therefore, the determination of the reasons for the transition of hostilities to the positional form and the search for possible ways out of this situation should obviously be carried out according to these main components. It should be noted that the aforementioned components in no way diminish the role and importance of missiles and ammunition, artillery systems, missile systems, electronic warfare, and other types of weapons and equipment provided by partners. They only complement them in the context of enhancing the capabilities of the Defense Forces through new technological solutions and innovative approaches to extricating themselves from the positional crisis on the line of contact. Let us consider these reasons in more detail. [CONTINUES]

Valerii Zaluzhnyi
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine