Ukraine Update
By Donald Hill & Tom Cooper
Hello everybody!
Please, don’t blame Don: it’s me who’s late today. The life came in between.
…and a little bit of Zionists complaining that’s it’s ‘supporting the Iranian Mullah regime’ when I post a still from a video showing Israeli troops arresting 9-years-young Palestinian children, on my FB account…
It did surprise me none of characters complaining (via Messenger, e-mail etc.), came to the idea to complain about soldiers of the ‘Army of Light’, armed with 200+ nukes - arresting children.
Must be that that’s necessary and fair, while it’s unfair and unprofessional to criticise (or at least completely ignore) such practices: must be it’s me and my inability to soberly analyse the ‘Arab-Israeli conflict’…
Equally unfair - indeed: anti-Semitic - is to criticise Israel’s Minister of Defence, Katz, announcing that (quote) ‘Tehran is going to burn’, and that ‘Residents of Tehran will pay the price for overnight attacks on Israel’. Because, not only threatening civilians, but also exercising collective punishment and then massacring them by dozens (whether by air strikes, UAV-strikes, or car-bombs, like Israel is doing the last two days in Tehran) is acceptable - if expressed and/or ordered, publicly, by members of Israel’s government and members of Israel Defence Force.
….makes me wonder then, what shall one think about the Russians doing the same in Ukraine?
…like, just for example, when they target some meeting of Syrsky & Buddies, but - by sheer accident, of course, miss, by a few kilometres or so, and precisely hit four major children hospitals of Kyiv?
And, if Israel has the right to announce and then conduct such monstrosities - for example in Gaza, in Lebanon, in Yemen, ‘soon’ in Tehran (i.e. Iran) as well - why not Russia too? For example: in the case of 300+ different hospitals in Syria, then in Mariupol, and then in 17 other places around Ukraine?
I should not think about how much of such bollocks is coming from Ukrainians, or from people priding themselves with supporting Ukraine: nah, instead, I should mind that this is proving how wrong I am to support Ukraine.
(Memo for file: register ‘Tom Cooper is wrong’ as a trademark).
…and I’m digressing. After all, you’re not here to read my complaints about cynical, religiously-motivated racists and genocide-supporters, all dripping hatred; and you’re not here to indulge in discussions about ethics, morale, and international law, but to read Don’s update about developments in Ukraine of the last week. Thus, lets go over to doing that: everybody is, promptly, going to feel better, and confirmed and justified, too.
***
Kursk/Sumy
Full revelation: the last 10+ days, it was itching - not only in my small toe (but) - in all 13 fingers of my two hands, and then the 10 of Don’s, to write a longer feature about what a bardak has Syrsky managed to create in the Sumy Oblast. What a fantastic general and super-turbo-magnachrom-laude-genious he must be to have managed that. Especially about Syrsky sending (this time) brigades (‘instead’ of battalions) to this sector, but then critically short on training, lacking skilled commanders, and almost without ammunition (where one might want, but needs not, minding that it’s Syrsky who’s deciding what of ZSU’s brigades is getting how much of what ammunition and other equipment…meh, that’s irrelevant). We were this short >< of writing about a specific brigade Syrsky has sent to Sumy with 150 UAVs, but not a single launcher for these… It was itching… not only in the small toe, or fingers, but all over our bodies, to write how was that crisis solved (in the only way possible, read: without Syrsky… though without Drapaty, too)… and by whom.
But, lets leave that for ‘after the war’. After all, if Syrsky goes on like the last five-… sorry: seven-… sorry: twelve months… sorry: two-… nah: three years… there will be nobody left alive to recall the story, nor ask any questions. It’s not going to matter then. Besides, if was only Ukrainian soldiers (and few shiploads of Russian, too), that were killed. Thus, no point in discussing that… Lets go over to more important things…
The VKS was bombing, and is still bombing the area - de-facto - at will. Foremost with UMPKs. Some of these equipped with thermobaric warheads, like the one used in Khotin. We could go into that topic, and to extension, too… but, lets leave it at that: this is about war and warfare and thus no place for describing unpleasant affairs, pointing out failures, incompetence or similar factors that are causing casualties, or making an entire nation unable of stemming the Russian ‘tide’. Besides, plentiful of acclaimed professional experts in the West (and in Israel) can’t stop explaining how successful is the Ukrainian Air Force & Air Defence Force, right since the morning of 22 February 2022. Thus, no point in telling unprofessional things nobody wants to hear…
How - you’re going to ask: but the PSU F-16s have shot down that Su-35 and Ukraine now has the Link-16? Sure. Just that the Su-35 in question was not involved in releasing UMPKs and… meh, that’s modern air warfare and that’s so complicated even professional experts are not understanding it. Not to talk about unprofessionals. Thus, lets not talk about that, either…
Lets re-focus on good and fantastic news, instead. For example, somebody there came to the idea to re-deploy the 225th (Independent) Regiment to this sector and, what a surprise, the (undeclared) ‘corps reserve’ eliminated an entire Russian assault group. Ukraine also bombed a target near Volodymyrivka.
Logistics are important to both sides, and drones take a heavy toll on logistical vehicles on both sides. Multiple Ukrainian vehicles are attacked by drones around Nova Sich. Ukrainian positions are attacked around Oleksiivka. A Ukrainian towed D-30 gun is attacked north of Mohrytsia. 6 km away a Russian airstrike hit Ukrainian-occupied woods.
Not for the first time, the headquarters of the infamous 155th Naval Infantry Brigade was struck in Rylsk with GMLRS rockets.
Of the 11,000 North Koreans deployed to Kursk, 6,000 were killed according to UK intelligence. The Russian casualties were 36,200 wounded, 25,200 killed or seriously wounded and 983 taken prisoner, according to Ukraine.
… a great win… for Syrsky. Simply no doubt about that.
***
Kupiansk
Russians tried to advance out of Krasne Pershe but were unable to do so. They did manage to move up to 2 km west of Dvorichna.
The different bridges across the Oskil river have been knocked out. Ukraine built new crossings and Russia periodically knocks them out, too.
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Siversk
Ukraine has held Bilohorivka for three years. At least since Dvornikov’s final attempt to cut off the Sieverodonets/Lysychansk Cauldron by crossing the Siversky Donetsk in the sector west of this village, back in May 2022, ended in a fashion resembling a car-crash at full speed…
Alas, since mid-April, Russia has been slowly pushing forward. Counting this week, they’ve advanced 3 km in the last two months. They even managed to plant a flag northwest of Hryhorivka but they weren’t able to hold that territory. Still, being able to penetrate 3 km from the current front lines shows how thin this sector’s defenses are.
In the southern edge of the cauldron, a Russian assault used 19 bikes and three buggies to try and take a Ukrainian position through speed. The buggies and 13 motorcycles were destroyed by drones from the 10th Mountain Brigade. 18 Russians were killed, five wounded, and three surrendered to a drone.
A wounded Ukrainian was in an exposed defensive position and pulled himself onto a ground drone with a trailer so he could be evacuated.
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Chasiv Yar
Yet another Russian attack with TOS-1 thermobaric rockets, this time just outside Chasiv Yar. Ukrainian Vampire drones are intercepted by Russian drones.
Among the Ukrainian drone strikes is an airstrike inside Chasiv Yar. Ukraine claims that they destroy 3,500 logistical vehicles throughout the front during the month of May.
Somewhere in Donetsk Oblast, a pair of Russian Su-25s were flying with the intention of firing rockets at the Ukrainians and not each other. One fell out of the sky and had a rough landing.
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Toretsk
The 100th Brigade attacked Russians in Toretsk with drones. Ten bombs land on Yablunivka.
Back in 2024, Ukraine pioneered the technique of waiting on the ground by a road instead of flying around looking for a target. The Russians started doing it about six months ago. This is an example near Pokrovsk. And this is Rubicon doing it somewhere west of Toretsk.
Some Russian prisoners were worried about being shot.
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Pokrovsk
On the eastern end of Malynivka, Russian troops are destroyed by rockets and artillery when they disembark from their vehicles.
Just east of Donetsk, a Russian convoy was hit by GMLRS rockets when they stopped by the side of the road 45 km from the front. 20 soldiers were reported killed and more were wounded.
With a 32 km range, the 2S7 can fire from far behind the front lines. The 15th Artillery Reconnaissance Brigade spotted one of the 203 mm guns with its ammo truck and hit it with something. The post suggest it might be a BM-30 MRLS with a range of 70 km, but it is not a precision weapon and could be off by 150 meters at that range.
Because of the 2S7’s long range it is harder to detect and engage. Russia’s lost 35 that we know of. They had 60 in active service in 2022 and 260 in reserve in various states of repair. The North Korean M1989 Koksan is 170 mm and has a range of 40 km. Russia received 120 of them so far and is scheduled to receive 120 more. Only North Korea produces the 170 mm shells for that artillery system.
The Drone Wall to detected and engage any enemy movement has been partially established at 15 km by both sides. They are slowly extending the range to 40 km, as seen with recent drone engagements at that distance, and there are plans to push the Drone Wall to 100 km.
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Komar
Ukrainian positions north of Horikhove are bombarded by artillery and drones and a small Russian assault team advances. 21 Russian rockets land east of Komar. Komar itself is bombarded and Russians enter the village.
Ukraine has been fighting hard and counter-attacking in Bahatyr for a month, but last week they lost Odradne and Russia advanced 6 km on a narrow front to Komar. There were no forces to attack that narrow advance and Russia was able to widen that penetration even as it continued to attack into Komar.
This week, Russia advanced 9 km on a very narrow front to the village of Zaporizhzhia. Ukraine likely won’t counterattack that drive, either, showing how thin their defenses are in this sector. Ukraine’s lack of local reserves and slow responses to Russian actions indicate a lack of coordination between units in this sector.
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Zaporizhzhia
Ukraine damages two anti-aircraft systems (a Pantsyr and a Tor). The missile from one of them missed the attacking drone.
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Kherson
Ukraine reported that 2,314 Russian drones attacked targets in this sector between May 26 and June 1. 906 of the attacks were in the city of Kherson. Some of the first uses of fiber optic drones were used by the Russians here but most of their drones continue to be controlled through radio waves and 1,658 (71%) of the Russian drones that week were neutralized by EW, including 744 (82%) of the drones attacking in Kherson. In addition, 10,000 artillery shells were fired during the month of May, killing 25 and injuring 212.
Russian ammo and fuel depots were bombed at a location that was used for drone operations.
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Black Sea
A Ukrainian drilling rig was hit by a Russian cruise missile. Russia claimed the rig was used as a base for Black Sea operations. Ukraine denied that but said they used the rig for other reasons. It’s been hit more than ten times.
A Russian gas rig was hit by aerial drones launched from naval drones.
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Baltic Sea
Russia has been jamming GPS signals in the Baltic for over a year now, impacting plane and naval navigation. The scale of the jamming has increased. Drones have crashed or lost control and Russian ships have vanished from radar or transmitted false positions, as well.
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Russia
A company that produces antennas that resist jamming and other EW systems was struck by two drones in Cheboksary, almost a thousand kilometers from Ukraine. Production was suspended after the attack.
The Tambov Powder plant was attacked yet again. It was also attacked in November 2023, January 2024 and July 2024.
An electronics factory 80 km from Moscow was hit. It produces circuit boards and electronics for high-tech weapons.
Savasleyka airbase was hit and two aircraft were reportedly damaged.
Someone drained the coolant of a substation transformer in Kaliningrad and set it on fire. It shut down production at a military facility.
A chemical plant in Stavropol, 1000 km from Ukraine, was attacked. The plant produces ammonia and ammonium nitrate for fertilizer, explosives, ammo and rocket fuel. Also 1000 km from Ukraine was the Novokuybyshevsk Catalysts Plant, which produces chemicals used in refining oil.
Back on June 6th, Russia cut its central bank interest rate from 21% to 20%. It had been increasing the rate to fight inflation but stopped at 21% because the high cost of loans were stifling business investments. Consumer prices have been rising by 0.4% each month and food prices have been rising by 11% annually, but seasonal decreases in fruit and vegetable prices should slow that increase during June. Potato prices rose 92% last year. Poor crop yields caused them to rise by 166.5% in May. The average price per kilogram in May was 42.4 rubles compared to the global average of 15.5 rubles.
There are many reasons why the ratio of wounded to dead is so low for Russia. Refusing to let anyone retreat, including the wounded, is one of them and stories like this have been circulating for three years. The widespread lack of medical care is another reason. The Soviet hospital system was built for the surge of casualties during wartime. During a Russian reform movement, it was determined that the system was excessive during peace and was drastically reduced. Now that there is war, there is not enough capacity. There is also insufficient and sometimes defective basic medical supplies, such as tourniquets, and very little training on basic first aid.
A Russian doctor describes what happens to soldiers hit on the battlefield: A shell hits ten men. One dies instantly. Two more die within half an hour. Three could be saved with timely medical care, but that rarely happens now. Helicopter evacuations are no longer possible, and there are few safe routes out. Of the remaining four, three are immobilized and could survive with basic first aid and transport within five hours. But even that is usually not possible. They die too. The last two are walking wounded. They must make their way back to safety on their own, often walking five to ten kilometers under threat from drones. If they are lucky, they might be picked up by a vehicle.
The UK says that Russia suffered one million casualties since the open invasion began, including 250,000 dead. Over 111,000 of the dead have been documented by name from records. Almost 35,000 have been documented on video in the last 289 days. That is just the deaths that were captured on video, were not in vehicles, and were posted. In addition, Russian medics report that for every soldier that is killed on the battlefield, two wounded soldiers later die.
An Uzbek citizen left his country to find work in Russia in 2021. He said his boss asked him to carry a package that contained heroin. He was sentenced to 8.5 years in prison and joined Wagner in November 2022. After fighting and being wounded he was granted an early release back when Russia still did that. He was given Russian citizenship, 500,000 rubles and a couple of medals. He found a job in Russia but heard that Wagner vets were being forced back into the army so he returned to Uzbekistan in October 2024. He was arrested there and sentenced to five years in prison for serving as a mercenary in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Because of Operation Spider Web, Russia relocated many of its bombers. Of the 10 Tu-160s (3 at Olenya and 7 at Belaya), three were redeployed at Yelizovo in Kamchatka, two were moved to Anadyr in Chukotka and three landed in Borisoglebskoye in Tartarstan, including one undergoing modernization.
11 Tu-22M3 bombers from Olenya and 4 Tu-95MS bombers from Engels-2 went to Ukrainka, but then six Tu-22M3 bombers were moved to Engels-2. Four Tu-22M3s landed at Mozdok in North Ossetia.
It is possible that they will move their bombers more often to disrupt Ukrainian targeting for any potential future operations. Ukrainka was targeted during Spider Web but the truck carrying the drones was discovered before it could deploy the drones. Mozdok air base has been attacked by drones before.
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Ukraine
Russia launched 479 drones and decoy drones, 4 ballistic missiles, 14 cruise missiles and two anti-radar missiles. Of the 499 aerial weapons, Ukraine said 292 were shot down and 187 were jammed.
The 540th Anti-aircraft Missile Brigade had been working with the S-300 since 2022 and destroyed 55 cruise missiles, including five in a single engagement. They just transitioned to an IRIS-T air defense system and in their first engagement they shot down seven cruise missiles.
The Boeing building in Kyiv suffered heavy damage.
Ukraine uses the two Ka-32 helicopters it received from Portugal to fight fires in Kyiv after Russian drone and missile attacks.
Two Ukrainians working for the Russians were arrested. One was an unemployed woman that received money for recording the take offs and landings for aircraft and recorded battle damage assessments of enemy strikes. The other was a mobilized soldier that filmed combat sorties of Ukrainian aircraft.
In the last two weeks, Russia attacked Ukraine with 2,800 drones, 140 misiles and 3,000 guided bombs. An 80 second montage of images from last week’s attacks. An oil refinery and agricultural facilities were struck in Kremenchuk.
1,212 of the agreed upon 6,000 dead have been returned to Ukraine so far. In mid-February, Zelensky said 46,000 Ukrainians had been killed and 380,000 wounded. Two years ago, US officials estimated that 70,000 Ukrainians had been killed.
Art reflects the times.
***
Diplomacy
Trump continues to reduce Putin’s isolation on the world stage by inviting Putin to join the talks regarding Iran’s nuclear program. Russia is Iran’s largest foreign investor. If a deal was reached and sanctions were theoretically lifted then Iran wouldn’t need to rely on Russia as heavily.
20,000 anti-drone missiles were diverted from Ukraine to Israel. Hegseth testified that they will be used to protect US personnel in the Middle East. No plans were announced to replace them in the future. Trump still has not approved Ukraine’s request to buy 10 Patriot systems as he continues to blame Ukraine for starting the war.
Trump doesn’t understand facts. Many of the people he appointed don’t understand facts. Decisions that impact the world are being made by people that don’t understand facts. In this instance Secretary of Defense Hegseth cannot answer basic questions from Congressman Vindman, who was a LtCol in the White House during Trump’s first term and overheard Trump extorting Zelensky, leading to Trump’s first impeachment.
Militaries are a function of economies and China’s economy is the second biggest in the world. It will become the largest economy in 10-15 years. The Pacific Ocean is one of the biggest theaters for submarine operations. To counter China, it would be politically and economically useful if Australia’s navy was modernized and had subs. This administration seems concerned that the US will not have enough subs of their own and are reconsidering selling five subs to Australia. The sales and support for Australia to build their own subs had been a joint Australia/UK/US (AUKUS) goal for future decades. Maintenance of US subs in Australia was also part of that plan, but Trump and his team don’t understand facts and they don’t play well with others. Decisions such as this undermines defenses and relations for years.
Canada will provide $2 billion in aid to Ukraine.
Because of Switzerland’s neutrality laws it prohibits the re-export of weapons containing more than 50% of Swiss-made components. They’ve blocked the transfer of arms and ammo to Ukraine and lost sales and market share over the last three years. After talking about it for a long time, the upper house of the parliament approved a proposal that allows the government to export weapons into a conflict zone. The lower house must approve the measure before it becomes law.
Poland’s president-elect Nawrocki is against Ukraine’s entry into the European Union and he cited unfair competition with Poland’s agriculture and logistics sector. He does support Ukrainian sovereignty in its fight with Russia.
Orban accuses his political opponent of representing Ukraine and the EU. In the meantime, Hungary's national security services uncovered ties between a member of Orban’s party and Russian intelligence.
Lithuania’s defense minister says that their armed forces need to include more women if they want to increase in size. Last April, the commander of the armed forces said there was no need to include women in compulsory service.
A Polish citizen was arrested for spying for Russia. Six Bulgarians also spying for Russia were sentenced in the UK.
Since 2022, 12 teenagers from Germany, Poland, Britain and Lithuania, and dozens of teenagers from Ukraine, have been arrested for aiding Russia with spying and sabotage. A Canadian teenager travelled to Istanbul, Moscow and then Denmark before moving to Poland because it was cheaper and easier to convert bitcoin into cash. He was paid by his Russian handler from a bitcoin wallet that processed $600 million over three years. A couple days after arriving in Warsaw, he was drunk and contacted the police to confess he was working for the FSB. Because of his age and cooperation, he received a 20-month sentence instead of the usual 5-year minimum.
Ukrainian intelligence agents monitored a Russian cargo ship in South Africa and told the US that weapons were being loaded into the ship at night with its Automatic Identification System turned off. The US announced the shipment publicly and asked South Africa to start practising its non-alignment policy. South Africa said they had no evidence and was disappointed with the public accusation.
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Equipment
In a battlefield environment dominated by drones, towed artillery gained value because of the high chance of spotting and attacking anything that moved, such as self-propelled artillery, and because towed artillery is easier to protect with defensive positions and harder to see when camouflaged. Russia’s Shchuchye arsenal had 4,839 towed artillery pieces before the war. By April 2025 they only had 2,753 pieces and those were in rough shape due to poor maintenance. A lot of artillery was pulled to equip 70 new regiments that the Russian army created. The poor condition of the remaining pieces will limit the number of guns that can be refurbished and the rate at which they are repaired.
Planet Labs is a US cube satellite company that has been providing imagery to Ukraine and will now be providing it to NATO.
South Korea is working on a missile capable of intercepting ballistic missiles at altitudes of up to 100 km and is scheduled to be completed in 2028. Japan and the US were jointly developing a missile interceptor that was supposed to begin testing in 2029 and delivery in 2032 but funding cuts pushed the delivery date to 2035.
In addition to 5,000 Martlet missiles and 100,000 drones, Ukraine will receive an unknown amount of RapidRanger air defense systems that have a detection range of 15 km and a firing range of 7 km. Since Russian drones now fly higher than machine guns can engage, Ukraine needs systems to replace that capability.
Ukrainian drones have intercepted Russian drones controlled by radio signals and jammed them, causing a non-contact kill.
A French automotive company will produce drones in Ukraine for both Ukraine and France. They plan to produce several thousand drones within a few months.
Ukraine’s Sapsan ballistic missile can reach a velocity of Mach 5.2 (ATACMS is Mach 3), has a range of at least 300 km (the stated plan was 500 km) and a 480 kg warhead (ATACMS’s warhead is 227 kg). It already struck a target last month and is in full production now. Ballistic missiles can only be intercepted with hit-to-kill missiles. The S-400 is designed to intercept missiles at ranges of 120 km, 250 km and 400 km, depending on the missile that is used. The rate of production was not disclosed.
The Saab AEW planes, Ukrainian F-16s, Mirage 2000s, and Patriot systems can now share data through Link 16 communications, which will make them more effective.
Russia’s V2U drone can fly for one hour at 60 kph with an electric motor, and up to 100 km with a combustion engine. It has a 3 or 3.5 kg warhead and has US and Chinese electronics that allows it to search for targets autonomously if it is jammed. It has a 100-GB drive with terrain maps and a laser range finder that allows it to navigate if GPS/GLONASS satellite signals are jammed. It can match equipment profiles with images in its on-board library to select a target to attack.
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Ukrainian Leadership
Ryan O’leary was a soldier that fought in the 59th Brigade. He has some opinions on Ukrainian leadership:
An army is sustained by food, but its will to fight, its ability to withstand and destroy the enemy, is in the hands of its command. There is a huge difference between a unit that simply survives and a unit that actually fights.
Let's start by saying that this is not an appeal to a specific command, but it is something that, in my opinion, is critically lacking in understanding among the officer corps of Ukraine. A mediocre officer in peacetime affects combat readiness — which can sometimes be ignored. But a mediocre or incompetent officer in wartime leads to the death of soldiers and reduces the morale of the unit and its ability to hold the defense or conduct offensive operations.
We have lost more people due to poor command than from Russian actions. I will repeat again: as a soldier since February 2022, I claim that we have lost more people due to poor leadership and Soviet thinking than from direct Russian actions. The officer corps of Ukraine behaves like a caste system of untouchables or "army princes". Instead of caring about the normal living conditions of soldiers, most of the leadership is more concerned about the availability of a shower, a private room, etc.
This system allows incompetent officers not only to avoid responsibility, but also to be promoted or transferred to other positions to avoid red tape or so that the brigade or battalion commander who appointed them does not have to demote friends or deal with the consequences. This system of nepotism has a direct impact on the situation on the front lines.
A real-life example is the 59th Brigade. After Sukharevskiy was transferred to the SBS, command was transferred to Shevchuk. In the first two months of his command, he sent intelligence officers on assault operations, which led to deaths and serious injuries among those who had nothing to do with combat operations. This undermined not only the morale but also the effectiveness of the unit. He sent soldiers to unreachable positions without any hope of reinforcement or even survival. It took more than 16 months for him to be removed from his post. 16 months of decisions that cost dozens, if not hundreds, of lives.
Such situations are part of the problem in the Land Forces of Ukraine. The NCO corps has not been properly formed since the start of a full-scale war in 2022, and the officer corps continues to live according to Soviet templates, where failures are covered up, and soldiers pay for it. We shed blood for Ukraine, we die for Ukraine, we fight for our children, wives, sons and daughters - while officers who do not care, who are not motivated, who do not have the right to command, continue to make mistakes that lead to senseless deaths.
I can’t speak for the level above the battalion, but given the recent statements of officers who tried to change the system and were forced to resign, this should be a signal to those in power. Change is needed if we want to preserve the freedom of the next generation, Ukrainian identity, and continue the path to democracy. At the current pace, these officers will continue to fill the cemeteries with brave, courageous Ukrainians for no good reason.
That is why I will no longer lead brave men and women into the very hell of combat unless I know that there is an officer in the rear who cares about our lives and wants to complete the mission with us.
The most valuable thing we have is our people, our minds, our ability to think. We must instill the belief that people are more important than meters and medals - unfortunately, this is not the case at the moment. There are butchers among us, there are bastards among us, and these officers must be removed immediately if we are to win this war and save our state.
If you are an officer reading this, or you are a person in power—political or otherwise—and this is making you angry, take a look at the six questions below. If you don’t pass even 75%, you are most likely the problem. Or the problem is your command. It’s 2025—it’s time for Soviet thinking to die with the Russians in the field.
We can no longer be led to the slaughter by promising the bare minimum and placing our lives in the hands of those who don't care.
1. I trust my company commander and am sure that he will do everything possible to get me out of a crappy situation.
2. I believe that command is acting in my best interests when planning the defense of forward positions.
3. I know that my officers will do everything they can to remove me from the position if problems arise and the Russians are able to gain a foothold.
4. Before each operation, I receive all the necessary information about the goals and am able to provide feedback to successfully complete the task.
5. We are being provided with all the information necessary to not only fight, but also to displace Russian forces.
6. I trust that the command of my brigade or battalion will come to my aid and do everything possible to get me out of a bad situation.
If you don't get well above 75% positive answers to these six questions, you are not coping with the command and should be removed immediately.
Ukraine has always had an army dominated by officers. IT'S 2025 - THIS BEHAVIOR OF OFFICERS IS UNACCEPTABLE. IF AN OFFICER IS UNMOTIVATED, INDIFFERENT, INCOMPETENT, HE SHOULD BE FIRED IMMEDIATELY, NOT IN MONTHS.
***
Ryan O’Leary’s post was endorsed by Tatarigami:
A timely critique of the officer corps from Ryan. Unfortunately, even when I was training at the Military Academy, everything actually came down to teaching you to be a “stick” that mindlessly passes orders to the NCOs. And the NCOs, in turn, as the same “stick” were supposed to “put pressure” on the soldiers. Leadership, in the sense in which it is understood, say, in the US Marine Corps, was not conceptually taught. Although, of course, there was always a small minority who, thanks to their moral and business qualities, became real leaders, and not just instruments of coercion.
As long as senior officers look at sergeants as a tool of coercion, which, through constant coercion and fear of punishment, forces personnel to perform even basic functions, we will remain within the framework of the Soviet model of the army. And junior officers will eventually become the same senior officers themselves, because they simply have not seen other approaches and do not know how to do it differently.
…that much about ‘Ukraine is already in NATO’…
Imagine in the future all this post put in a book week after week off of canyon war!
Thanks Mr Hill and Mr Cooper for yours work and time