German Defense Ministry criticizes AFU for "slow offensive" - Bild
Seven weeks after the beginning of the Ukrainian de-occupation offensive in the south and east of the country, there are only minor successes in the form of the liberation of 150 square kilometers and nine small villages. The advantage of the Defense Forces of Ukraine over the troops of the aggressor state of Russia is disappearing. This was reported by Bild on Tuesday, July 25, with reference to a secret document for internal use of the German Armed Forces.
According to the publication, in a secret report, the Bundeswehr military analyzed the actions of the Ukrainian forces and noted that there is no common combat leadership in the Ukrainian forces, as the units are sometimes divided into units with a small number of people, and everyone does their own thing without taking into account the overall picture of the battle. According to the Bundeswehr, this not only increases the danger of "friendly fire" on its own troops, but such elements of the maneuver do not allow to build up one's own momentum or establish fire superiority over the enemy, the report says.
"As Ukraine breaks its Western-trained brigades into the smallest units and sometimes allows groups of only from 10 to 30 soldiers - isolated from the rest of the army - to attack an enemy position, neither Western training, nor better weapons, nor large numbers of soldiers standing by are of any use. This means that the superiority of Ukrainian forces over the Russian invasion army, as seen by the West, will disappear. In general, this is not related to individual mistakes or shortcomings in the training of the U.S. and other armies, which is mostly conducted in Germany, but to "Ukrainian operational doctrine," the document says.
The military of the Bundeswehr believe that the more combat experience a Ukrainian soldier has and the higher he rises in the Ukrainian army, the less he learns the principles of Western training or participates in it at all. In many cases, soldiers with no recent combat or military experience have been found to be more successful in training than experienced and trained soldiers, analysts estimate. According to the Bundeswehr's assessment, "combat experience" does not mean "that a soldier is a good leader in a battle."
The Ukrainian military trained in Germany, especially the young cadets, had a good understanding of the "principles of fire and movement", but after returning to Ukraine, they faced a problem because they were commanded by officers who did not follow Western procedures. The secret Bundeswehr document states verbatim that senior staff demonstrate "sometimes significant deficiencies in leadership and the application of management processes at the appropriate level, which sometimes leads to incorrect and dangerous decisions."
"Although during the four-week training, the cadets had a 'high level of understanding and high success in training,' Ukrainian operational doctrine and Ukrainian senior officers who did not participate in Western training often hindered the progress achieved. In this regard, the counteroffensive of the Ukrainian army is still rather slow," Bild quotes the Bundeswehr report.
From January to May 2023, the West trained and well armed at least nine brigades, i.e. about 20,000 Ukrainian soldiers, Bild reminds.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on July 24, Bild reported that Western high-precision missile and artillery systems created a long-range "firing fist" for Ukraine, against which the aggressor state of Russia has no means.
On July 23, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that Ukraine had recaptured half of its territories that Russia had occupied since the start of the full-scale invasion.
On July 22, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Russia has prepared powerfully for the defense of its positions, mining almost all ways of advancing of our Defense Forces.