Thread by @kms_d4k

How can we win the war with the Russians despite RU having unlimited armor and resources? Here are some key differences between UA and RU armies:

• Manpower and army composition
• Command structure - Centralized vs decentralized
• Usage of the combined arms
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Both UA and RU armies have common roots in the giant Soviet military. The Soviets had many conscripts and armor but lacked skilled soldiers and had incompetent command. It was incapable of rapid deployment and wasn't combat-ready.

Modern post-soviet RU army got its first combat experience in bloody Chechen wars. It suffered heavy losses combating a small group of motivated Chechen fighters fighting for their freedom.

The Russian military was so ineffective that in 1996 it was forced out of Chechnya and signed a peace treaty.

When Vladimir Putin came to power, he managed to break the Chechen people in the second war finally. The wars were so costly that Putin decided to create a "new" version of the Russian military, the one we saw in glorified videos and the one the world feared before 24 February.

RU built a smaller but professional army of trained killers. The task of this army is to break less powerful enemies as fast as possible.

We saw this happening in Georgia in 2008, Ukraine in 2014, and later in Syria. They are skilled to fight against a non-professional army, civilians, or no resistance at all.

RU created a tactic to use the infamous BTG. BTG commonly consists of 800 professional killers and has a large amount of armor. Compared to the Soviet conscript army, it is capable of rapid action. However, the command problems were never solved.

UA's army before 2014 was effectively a remnant of the ineffective Soviet force with the same issues RU had in the Chechen wars. The army was plagued by Russian agents trying to sabotage it for decades. We lost Crimea and were forced to an uneasy peace treaty in the Donbas.

It was clear that the UA army needed colossal reform. UA never had the resources to have a comparable amount of armor to RU, so we decided to focus on outsmarting the enemy.

The most important thing is a command structure. The UA army became heavily decentralized during 2014-2022. The units on all levels decide how to perform their task independently from higher command.

When I started my education in the military academy, I was taught old soviet tactics in the first year. I was told that the commander was always right. However, in later years I got training from NATO about decentralizing the combat force.

Tens of thousands of UA troops went through such training for eight years. New tactics quickly proved effective in the fight with Russians and their proxies in Donbas.

RU's actions are heavily controlled by Moscow, even at company levels. That makes them ineffective at rapid decision-making in an ever-changing fighting landscape.

The average RU soldier comes from the poorest regions of Russia. They become soldiers immediately after high school and are trained to kill. Like Panem in the Hunger Games, the soldier never comes from Moscow.

UA soldiers come from all backgrounds since this is a war for our country's freedom. Most of them, are highly motivated to win the war and come back to a peaceful life.

They are programmers, entrepreneurs, and even university professors in the army. Professional soldiers in the most combat-ready brigades speak English.

UA army far exceeds RU in the combined arms strategy. To win the war, all military branches shall work together. For example, during the first days of the invasion, RU columns advanced without air cover and air defenses. UA drones and jets quickly obliterated them.

Despite having unlimited artillery shells and thousands of artillery pieces, RU advances are limited because they lack drones for reconnaissance and target finding. On the contrary, UA uses commercial drones to use our limited artillery much more effectively.

Once UA receives more artillery from the West, the RU won't be able to move forward. Their tactic is just to blow everything to scraps with artillery. They utterly destroy towns to advance, as seen in Mariupol, Severodonetsk, etc.

We urgently need more artillery to liberate our people, land and culture - before it’s too late.