A colleague below misheard and delivered an anti-tank missile. With no time to argue, the gunner took it, fired it at his target and repeated his demand for 50 more rounds – only to be handed another rocket. The episode, captured by the English-speaking gunner’s body camera, provided a comical, terrifying and still rare glimpse into the fast-paced battle for the Kharkiv region last week. He also incorporated the elements that seem to have made last week’s remarkable offense possible: speed, aggression and plenty of improvisation. Before he stopped firing, the gunman was running across flat land in a Humvee, one of the lightly armored, fast vehicles donated by the US that were reportedly vital to the advance. “A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week.” So said General George S. Patton, legendary commander of the US Third Army in World War II. When Ukraine decided to launch its counterattack in the east, there was no doubt that some asked for more time to consider the plan. more time to allow filtering of the latest intelligence updates on Russian locations and forces. Kyiv undoubtedly had good information about the enemy it faced. Even so, it was a bold move, likely starting with lighter vehicles than Kyiv would have liked, rather than a few months into more robust kit. As the machine gunner delivered a bazooka, they decided to go with what they had. They also threw orthodoxy to the wind – tearing up both Western and Soviet military rule books to create something that most generals would have dismissed as insanely dangerous. Western powers prefer to conduct reconnaissance in secret. Even armored vehicles can sneak past to get a better picture of enemy dispositions if handled correctly by competent crews. In contrast, Soviet, and later Russian, doctrine prefers to fight for information. Russian units push tanks forward on reconnaissance missions and are happy to engage enemy weapons. the better to understand what’s out there.
Ukraine adopted a ‘hybrid approach’
The Ukrainian military leadership appears to have adopted a hybrid of these two views when planning last week’s offensive. They do not appear to have been overly concerned about staying hidden, preferring to use light, mostly wheeled vehicles such as the Humvee and Australian Bushmaster armored personnel carriers, as well as civilian trucks such as Toyota Land Cruisers. But despite being exposed, they did not pursue a major battle in the style of a Russian or Soviet military reconnaissance.
