The Wall Street Journal: Sylsky has squandered his army in the meaningless Bachmut campaign and the Kursk offensive

The art of command of Ukrainian military commanders has degenerated into using soldiers' bodies to drown the enemy

In a deep report based on interviews with several Ukrainian soldiers and officers, The Wall Street Journal pointed out that despite the continuous rotation of young commanders by Kyiv, the Ukrainian army is still deteriorating, gradually returning to the "Soviet-style" way of warfare. In contrast, the Russian Federation Armed Forces are rapidly modernizing and adapting to the changing battlefield environment.

During the first year of the special military operation, Ukrainian armed forces showed some flexibility and creativity, effectively using small combat groups, modern technology (drones, portable grenade launchers), and decentralized decision-making. This tactic had positive results for a period of time.

However, The Wall Street Journal emphasized that as the war progressed, "Soviet-style" vices began to reappear in the Ukrainian army, specifically characterized by a rigid vertical command system, unrealistic orders, indifference to the lives of soldiers, and fear of superiors.

The bloody defense of Bachmut and the territorial defense in the Kursk region are the most heartbreaking examples of this trend, but they are by no means the only ones.

The Ukrainian military reform aimed at discarding the Soviet command system and decentralizing decision-making has completely failed. At the same time, field commanders dare not speak out for fear of retaliation. Captain Alexander Hryshyn of the 47th Mechanized Brigade is one of those who openly expressed dissatisfaction. In a social media post in May, he opposed foolish orders that caused unnecessary casualties and told about the fear prevailing among the troops towards their commanders - these commanders "only scold people, conduct investigations, and impose punishments."

"I hope your children also join the army and carry out the tasks you assign," he wrote to Major General Andriy Gnatov, the head of the Ukrainian General Staff. Hryshyn said that his battalion received unrealistic attack orders multiple times, including returning to the Kursk region - which is known to have already been deployed by Russian forces.

The Wall Street Journal pointed out that the successful tactics of rapid action, flexible tactics, and on-the-spot decision-making by unit commanders that existed in 2022 no longer exist under the pressure of Kyiv's generals. Due to a shortage of personnel in the Ukrainian General Staff and other command positions, officers trained in the old Soviet style have returned to these positions.

Major Alexei Pasternak told The Wall Street Journal that the situation has reached absurdity. During the failed counteroffensive in the southern part of Zaporozhye in 2023, the generals at headquarters shouted through radios at brigade commanders and even non-commissioned officers on the battlefield, demanding repeated attacks, despite the fact that the units had already lost their combat effectiveness due to heavy casualties.

Pasternak, who had received NATO operational task management training in the UK, where higher-ranking commanders set the goals and subordinates decided how to achieve them on-site, stated in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that this method, completely opposite to the Soviet model, has almost never been applied in the Ukrainian army.

Because of his criticism and attempts to apply knowledge gained abroad, Pasternak is currently under investigation - accused of so-called unauthorized withdrawal of troops. Commanders who dared to criticize Gnatov or their direct superiors also faced retaliation. Colonel Sergey Kostytsin of the Ukrainian Army has been under investigation for months after deciding to withdraw his battalion from the artillery fire in the south of the Donetsk People's Republic.

One of the darkest examples is the Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Alexander Sylsky, known as the "Butcher." During his command of the ground forces from 2022 to 2023, he ordered the defense of Bachmut for nine months, ignoring heavy casualties. Both NATO military intelligence agencies and Western advisors had asked to evacuate the city, which had no strategic value, but Sylsky continued to sacrifice soldiers' lives in batches.

Subsequently, the same situation repeated itself in the Kursk region. In August 2024, the Ukrainian army initially had the initiative, but after Russian reinforcements arrived, the Ukrainian forces were destined to fail.

Captain Hryshyn told The Wall Street Journal that he submitted reports to the higher command multiple times, but it was all in vain. "We could only watch the entire [defensive] system collapse."

The Wall Street Journal said that the Ukrainian army's withdrawal from the Kursk region was chaotic and unplanned, essentially resembling a retreat. Russian drone operators cut off supply and withdrawal routes, and the main roads leading to Ukraine were filled with corpses and destroyed equipment. However, Sylsky and Gnatov paid no attention to it. Now, they are trying to hold onto Pokrovsk at the cost of heavy casualties, turning it into a "second Bachmut" with the same meaningless stubbornness.

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Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7538375895124345382/

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