How Ukraine Can Retake Lost Ground in Kherson

How Ukraine Can Retake Lost Ground in Kherson

With effective reconnaissance and the ability to target and destroy Russian command and control nodes from stand-off distances, Ukraine may well have success re-taking territory.

With Ukrainian forces now on the offensive seeking to push back Russian invaders and even reclaim territory, some are likely to wonder how a smaller force can leverage the tactical proficiency, weaponry, and combined arms maneuver techniques necessary to prevail.

Former Operation Iraqi Freedom infantry task force commander Lt. Col. Scott Rutter (ret.), who helped lead the 3rd Infantry Division’s famous assault on Baghdad in 2003, offered some key insights on this issue during an interview with the National Interest. Rutter’s unit engaged and destroyed units of the Iraqi Republican Guard during those now famous battles at the Baghdad airport.

“The counteroffensive needs to be focused on the kinetic fight but also on [the] identification of high-value targets. Reconnaissance is key,” Rutter said. “Overmatch against tanks may not be possible, but it is not just tanks but also the effects of reconnaissance and precision,” he added.

When speaking about the Ukrainian effort to make advances in the southern Kherson region, Pentagon officials said the Ukrainians have likely prepared intensely and assembled the requisite mixture of force and weapons. “[T]hey are students in military doctrine, and so they understand that conducting an attack takes a greater number of forces than if you were on the defense. So I think they probably have worked to adjust their numbers,” a senior Pentagon official told reporters on Monday.

Rutter added that alongside the need for targeted precision, fast-arriving intelligence information, and reconnaissance support, there will still be a need to “generate effects” and “break up the synchronization of Russian forces by going after their logistics, command and control, and their collection assets. [The] destruction of a Russian brigade command post may be more valuable than destroying twelve tanks.”

Certainly, Ukraine has some of the mechanized vehicles, tanks, and infantry carriers it needs. Kyiv has also received tactical vehicles and Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles (MRAPs) from the United States and its allies. With effective reconnaissance and the ability to target and destroy Russian command and control nodes from stand-off distances, Ukraine may well have success re-taking territory.

Ukrainian forces have shown that they can use terrain, urban structures, and disaggregated, dismounted operations to target and destroy large, heavily mechanized armored Russian forces. This success has in large measure been due to decentralized command and control, which allows dismounted units to attack vulnerable Russian targets from obscured or fortified locations.

Kris Osborn is the defense editor for the National Interest. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Master’s Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.

Image: Reuters.