"We joked that it wasn't April 1st," a Ukrainian soldier identified only by his first name, Serhiy, told The Economist.
  • Ukrainian’s shock offensive on Russia’s Kursk region came as a surprise even to Ukraine’s soldiers.
  • “We joked that it wasn’t April 1st,” a Ukrainian soldier told The Economist.
  • The country’s troops did suspect that an invasion was imminent after they were issued new equipment.
  • Justin@lemmy.jlh.nameEnglish
    0·
    1 year ago

    While soldiers should be well informed and educated, it is insane to say that an army can rely on ad-hoc strategy and bottom up leadership. That might work for guerilla warfare tactics, but it does not create a coherent force in any other situation.

    There should be civilian control of the military, but internally militaries require command hierarchy for the most significant decisions.

    The president/parliament says we attack this country with these wargoals, the general says we attack this region, the commander says we attack this town, the officer says we attack this road, and I decide where to walk and what to shoot. There is no time to have a committee meeting about this and it is bad for opsec for every soldier to know where every other soldier is going.