U.S. military academy's top expert on urban warfare is giving Ukrainians a crash course on Twitter

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/02/28/russia-urban-warfare-ukraine-insurgency-kyiv-kharkiv/

No paywall
https://archive.ph/EtsSh

If Ukraine wants to fend off the Russian invasion, one of the foremost U.S. experts on urban combat has some advice: Turn the battle into a street fight.

John Spencer, a retired U.S. Army major who saw urban combat up close in the 2008 battle of Sadr City with Iraqi insurgents before becoming the chair of urban warfare studies at the U.S. Military Academy’s Modern War Institute, has become an impromptu military advisor for Ukrainians looking to take up arms against Russia as the fight moves toward Kyiv and Kharkiv, the country’s two biggest cities.

“This will still be an insurgency at a level that, of course, we’ve seen in history, but we haven’t seen in modern history,” Spencer told Foreign Policy. “If Russians achieve their objective, it all falls. They raise a flag. Day two: They’re trying to instill order. They will still die a thousand cuts because of the insurgency.”

But to make that happen, the approach of the Ukrainian military and citizenry—who can get weapons from their government just by showing a passport—will have to change, Spencer said. The Ukrainians are not equipped or trained to fight like insurgents, he added, and they’ll have to figure it out as the Russian invasion intensifies.

*snip*

[Karadeniz]

1. Fascinating... If Russia took Kyiv, the Ukrainians would become insurgents... If it were urban

fighting, Putin could put the entire Russian military onto Kyiv and Russia would still be outnumbered.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

3. Partly based on article, I think it either gets incredibly destructive or Russia never takes Kyiv.nt

[Karadeniz]

4. Also, the DU post with an interview with Wesley Clark is really thought provoking !

[Bernardo de La Paz]

2. Turns out to be interesting strategic analysis, but not the urban tactics I was hoping for

It's fine. It was very interesting. Thanks for posting.

[Nevilledog]

5. Guy has many tactical threads on twitter

I did this one a few days ago

https://upload.democraticunderground.com/100216404444

[Bernardo de La Paz]

7. Cool! Much appreciate the link. . . . nt

[Hekate]

6. KnR