The former Australian general explained what Russia's attempt to cross the river in the east of Ukraine really was.
On Thursday morning, a whole tank battalion Russian army was destroyed by Ukrainian forces on the Seversky Donets River near Borodyanka. Hundreds of Russian soldiers were killed. The former general of the Australian Armed Forces believes that this failure was worse for Moscow than it may seem at first glance.
Focus writes about this, reminding that the Ukrainian army destroyed the Russian pontoon crossings with powerful artillery fire together with the military equipment that was supposed to pass through them. Experts say that Russia has lost about 60 units of armored vehicles of various kinds. And Ukrainian officers are convinced that the attack killed about 1,500 Russian soldiers. These figures cannot be verified. However, independent experts believe that the Russian army has lost at least several hundred fighters.
Former General of the Australian Armed Forces Mick Ryan explains that crossing the river is one of the most difficult military maneuvers. Because the combat units that perform it are extremely vulnerable at the time of transition. At the same time the enemy must be distracted to safely get to the other shore. Ryan recalled how he mastered the maneuver of crossing the river during his service in the Australian army. One of the commanders then told his unit, “If we can successfully cross the river as part of a brigade, we can conduct any joint military mission.” And, according to Ryan, he was right.
“Such operations are generally divided into six phases. The first is intelligence and planning. Why cross the river, when to do it, what is the next mission on the other bank and what is needed to do all this, “- explains the ex-military.
The second stage is” suppression “. That is, you need to suppress enemy forces near the river crossing. This means that care must be taken so that enemy forces cannot conduct close reconnaissance, cannot conduct direct and indirect fire at collection and exit points on both shores, as well as at the crossing itself.
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Ryan calls the third stage “disguise”. This means that the enemy should not see what the troops are doing. The operation can be carried out at night or electronic intelligence blocking devices can be used, etc. And, of course, we must repel the enemy forces from the place of crossing the river.
The fourth stage is “protection”. In this phase, friendly forces establish protection of approaches to the river crossing, as well as collection and exit points on both banks. The fifth stage is a favorite of engineers and is called “reduction”. This means that the obstacle to maneuver – in this case the river – must be overcome and minimized. The brigade usually needs two bridges and another reserve.
The last sixth stage is the “offensive”. This is a ground maneuver supported by aircraft or other assets of the Air Force, artillery, electronic warfare, etc., during which the crossing of bridges and preparation for further advance. Ryan notes that all phases of such an operation require a large number of personnel. We also need support forces, as well as a clear organization that will determine who crosses the bridge first and when. According to the former Australian military, trying to cross the Seversky Donets, the Russian army pursued the goal of strengthening its main axis of attack in Ukraine.
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“Such operations usually take place only on the axis of advance, which is the main direction of the offensive (or should become so). Many commentators overlooked. The Russians clearly intended to fit into this axis and throw a large amount of combat force at it, “Ryan said.
Therefore, in his opinion, by destroying Russian forces in the Seversky Donets, the Armed Forces inflicted a greater blow on the Russian army than it may seem at first glance. Yes, Russia has lost a lot of armored vehicles, “but it is already used to it.” According to Ryan, this is a loss of more than just a battalion tactical group. Most likely, the entire brigade lost most of its combat forces. Such resources are not cheap and they are not so many. However, they are urgently needed during the offensive, “the former military man explained.
However, according to Ryan, the most important thing is that by defeating Russian troops in the Seversky Donets, the Armed Forces suppressed one of the important axes of Russia's offensive in the east. And this is a very serious failure for Russia.
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