After Losing 1,000 Tanks, Ukraine Is Rethinking How It Uses Them
A Ukrainian Leopard 2A4 crosses a river in Donetsk Oblast in 2024.
The Ukrainian National Guard's best brigades are getting some of Ukraine's best tanks. Last week, Gen. Oleksandr Pivnenko—commander of the roughly 100,000-strong paramilitary force—announced some of his brigades had received German-made Leopard 1A5 and Leopard 2A4 tanks.
The four-person tanks 'have already proven their effectiveness in combat conditions,' Pivnenko wrote. 'They combine high mobility, firepower and reliability, which are critical on the modern battlefield.'
The 42-ton Leopard 1A5 packs a 105-millimeter main gun; the 61-ton Leopard 2A4's gun is bigger at 120 millimeters. Both tanks have four crew, but the heavier Leopard 2A4 offers its crew much more protection.
It's unclear which National Guard units will get the German tanks, but it's likely the 12 so-called 'offensive guard' brigades, each with at least 2,000 troopers, are first in line.
The offensive guard brigades are, like all Ukrainian guard brigades, made up of border guards, federal police and other internal security forces. But they're trained and equipped to the same standards as the Ukrainian army, air assault forces and marine corps.
The guard brigades' armor upgrade does not represent an expansion of the overall Ukrainian armor corps, however. Instead, it's part of a total rewriting of Ukrainian tank doctrine for the drone era.
After losing more than 1,000 tanks, many of them to Russian drones, Ukrainian leaders have accepted that the heavy, powerfully armed fighting vehicles need to operate differently if they're going to survive on a battlefield where tiny drones are everywhere all the time.
Tank crews should operate extremely carefully—hiding most of the time in barns, garages or dugouts and rolling out only occasionally to fire a few shells before scurrying back under cover.
It's a new 'era of the cautious tank,' David Kirichenko, an analyst with the Center for European Policy Analysis in Washington, D.C., announced in September.
Functioning more like cautious artillery and less like the brazen, close-fighting assault vehicles they once were, tanks are losing some of their relevance. Embracing that new truth, the Ukrainian army is reorganizing its tank units.
The four active tank brigades, each with up to 100 tanks, are likely to disband. Some of the hundreds of tanks freed up by this reform—including potentially scores of Leopard 1A5s and Leopard 2A4s, out of 240 of the tanks Ukraine is getting from its allies—will cascade to new 30-tank battalions belonging to infantry and mechanized brigades and the new multi-brigade corps that the Ukrainian ground forces are organizing.
Ukraine's tanks are dispersing on the battlefield—spreading out and hiding to avoid detection by drones—and also dispersing within the Ukrainian military's force structure: playing more of a supporting role than a lead role in a war increasingly shaped by tiny, lethal robots.
The end result should be a somewhat smaller overall tank corps with fewer vehicles and fewer crews, but which is better suited for the kind of war Ukraine is waging.
Cutting tank units isn't just a doctrinal imperative, however. It may also help the general staff in Kyiv solve one of its most vexing problems: a deep shortage of front-line infantry. By sending fewer new recruits to tank school, military planners could send more to infantry school.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
LA mayor says immigration raids caused ‘disorder'
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said Monday that immigration raids in her city resulted in 'disorder' the prior night. 'Well, I just have to say that if you dial back time and go to Friday, if immigration raids had not happened here, we would not have the disorder that went on last night,' Bass said on CNN's 'The Situation Room.' 'I will tell you that it is peaceful now, but we do not know where and when the next raids will be,' she added. Trump deployed 2,000 National Guard members to the Los Angeles area on Saturday amid protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said previously the action was due to 'violent mobs' recently attacking 'Federal Law Enforcement Agents carrying out basic deportation operations.' 'In the wake of this violence, California's feckless Democrat leaders have completely abdicated their responsibility to protect their citizens,' Leavitt said. U.S. Northern Command announced on Monday that the U.S. military was set to temporarily move around 700 Marines to Los Angeles, further raising military presence in the city. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and Vice President Vance sparred on social media on Monday over the situation in the Los Angeles area. The back-and-forth between the governor and the vice president started with Newsom responding to comments from President Trump, who said he would support arresting the Golden State governor. 'The President of the United States just called for the arrest of a sitting Governor. This is a day I hoped I would never see in America. I don't care if you're a Democrat or a Republican, this is a line we cannot cross as a nation — this is an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism,' Newsom said Monday afternoon on the social platform X. Vance responded to Newsom on X nearly two hours later, telling the governor to 'Do your job.' The Hill has reached out to ICE and the White House for comment. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Charlotte rally calls response to anti-ICE protests in LA ‘state-sanctioned violence'
East Charlotte resident Vincent Kolb's grandmother crossed the border without documentation near El Paso, Texas more than 100 years ago. Her dream was simple: a better life for her children. 'That's the real immigrant story of America — not the one that is being purposed and propagandized by the current administration,' Kolb said. He joined around 40 people outside of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center Monday afternoon to rally against ICE raids across the country and President Donald Trump's deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles. The Charlotte group held signs reading 'Free David Now' and chanted in-between speeches from organizers. The Trump administration made a number of immigration arrests across Southern California Friday, prompting days of protests, according to the Los Angeles Times. Despite objections from L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, Trump activated around 2,000 National Guard troops in response to violent clashes between protesters and law enforcement officers. California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Monday the state would file a lawsuit against the administration's deployment. 'Today, we are here to show that this is not going to fly in this country,' Jacob Plitman, lead organizer with SEIU 32BJ, said at the rally. 'It's not going to fly in the City of Charlotte, and we demand that they stop the raids.' Organizers also called for the release of David Huerta, president of SEIU California and SEIU United Service Workers West, who was arrested Friday during the L.A. protests for allegedly interfering with law enforcement activity. Plitman said Huerta was exercising his First Amendment rights when he was detained. Huerta made his first appearance in court Monday and was released on a $50,000 bond, the Los Angeles Times reported. 'The arrest of David Huerta is not only an attack on our community — it is an attack on our democracy. It is an attack on every worker in this country,' Stefanía Arteaga, co-executive director of the Carolina Migrant Network said during the rally. Additional speakers from Southeast Asian Coalition and Charlotte-Metrolina Labor Council expressed concern about how the federal government is engaging with anti-ICE protesters. Arteaga called it 'state-sanctioned violence.' The economy of the United States does not function without immigrants, Plitman said, noting that Charlotte grocery stores, airport operations and cleaning services all rely on immigrant labor. 'You can't walk down the streets of Charlotte and not point to something where an immigrant, whether documented or not, had an impact,' said Sebastian Feculak, first vice president of the CLC. Charlotte's growth, Plitman said, is thanks to immigrant labor. According to the NC Department of Commerce, 29% of construction workers and around 20% of agricultural workers are foreign-born. He called on local elected officials to better support immigrants and on community members to peacefully demonstrate. The administration can tell the difference between a city 'that's going to let this happen' and a 'strong, organized city that can demonstrate solidarity,' Plitman added. 'I think the more solidarity that we can demonstrate, the more likely we are to protect ourselves,' he said.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Trump is acting like an authoritarian; California's crisis now rests on what he does next
Donald Trump is talking and acting like an authoritarian as he escalates a constitutional clash with California over his migration crackdown. Much now depends on whether he's simply talking tough or if he's ready to take an already-tense nation across a fateful line in his zeal for strongman rule. In a mind-boggling moment, on Monday, the president of the United States — the country seen as the world's top steward of democracy for 80 years — endorsed the arrest of the Democratic governor of the nation's most populous state. 'I think it would be a great thing,' Trump, the only convicted felon ever to serve as president, told reporters as he strode across the South Lawn of the White House. Later, Trump deployed hundreds of active-duty Marines to Los Angeles and authorized the arrival of 2,000 more National Guard reservists after a weekend of unrest that saw clashes with police and burning cars in contained areas of the city. The protests were triggered by Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweeps seeking undocumented migrants in a city and state that are epicenters of Democratic power. California and Los Angeles officials reject Trump's claims that they have lost control. On Monday evening, law enforcement officers pushed back demonstrators throwing projectiles with flash bangs. Trump's decision to deploy troops despite the opposition of California Gov. Gavin Newsom represented the latest example of his willingness to flex extraordinary executive power — often on questionable grounds — and marked a break with a first term when he was often talked out of his extreme impulses by establishment officials. For all Trump's multiple previous challenges to the rule of law and democracy, a grave new chapter may be opening. 'The president is forcibly overriding the authority of the governor and mayor and using the military as a political weapon. This unprecedented move threatens to turn a tense situation into a national crisis,' Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, said on Monday evening. 'Since our nation's founding, the American people have been perfectly clear: we do not want the military conducting law enforcement on US soil,' Reed said in a statement. California Democratic Rep. Nanette Barragán, whose district encompasses Paramount, just south of Los Angeles, condemned Trump's mobilizations of troops that she said were not justified by the situation. 'This is where I think this is a sign of a dictator,' she told CNN's Jake Tapper. 'And the threat he is making against the governor to arrest him — I mean come on — that is pretty outrageous.' Top Trump administration officials are throwing around words like 'insurrection.' Not surprisingly, many observers have taken such rhetoric as a sign the White House is prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act — a law that would allow the president to activate troops to put down a rebellion in a state. There is no such revolt in California. Trump's claims on Monday that his swift action stopped Los Angeles being obliterated are also not true. The president's border czar Tom Homan, meanwhile, told CNN's Kaitlan Collins that claims by Democratic officials that protests intensified because Trump sent National Guard troops were 'ridiculous.' Joining 'The Source' from Los Angeles, Homan said, 'It all depends on the activities of these protesters— I mean, they make the decisions.' Protesters gathered in large numbers in Los Angeles on Monday night, raising the prospect of another cycle of tension and uncertainty. The trajectory of the crisis could now turn on whether Trump follows through on his dictator's theatrics by crossing lines not approached by modern presidents — notably on the use of troops in a law enforcement capacity. It may also rely on the restraint of protesters, who would play into Trump's hands by taking part in more unrest that creates alarming television pictures that can fuel Trump's dystopian rhetoric. Creating or escalating a law-and-order crisis or threat to public security and then using it to justify the use of the military on domestic soil would mirror the methodology of tyrannical leaders throughout history. And hopes of restraint are hardly supported by Trump's second term so far. The president has, for instance, invoked highly contentious national emergencies on immigration and trade to unlock rarely used executive powers with no pushback from the Republican Congress. He's used presidential authority against what he regards as centers of liberal authority and influence: at Ivy League universities, in the federal government and in the media. And even in his breakup with erstwhile DOGE chief Elon Musk last week, Trump threatened yet another abuse of power by cancelling federal subsidies for the SpaceX boss's firms. The administration is spoiling for a fight as it lays down a marker in California for other Democratic states where leaders are loath to cooperate with Trump's deportation purge. It obviously also perceives a political advantage in the president positioning himself as the guardian of public order in a way that allows Republicans to accuse Democrats of defending softer immigration enforcement. But as ever with Trump, there's a question as to whether he's serious with his threats or is staking out an extreme position to please his voters or even to create some perceived leverage for himself. Homan, for instance, told CNN's Collins that Newsom had 'absolutely not' done anything at this point to justify his arrest. And North Dakota Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer adopted the classic GOP line that not everything that the president says should be taken literally when asked about administration threats to detain Newsom. 'You guys could ask every day if I am comfortable with what he said. He hasn't arrested him. I can't imagine that he is going to arrest Gavin Newsom,' Cramer told CNN's Manu Raju. Cramer also voiced the view of many Republicans that, far from behaving like an authoritarian, Trump is rightfully addressing failures by Democratic leaders on immigration policy and public order. 'There's no question about it: Places like California have thumbed their noses at the American people and decided they want to be sanctuary for criminals,' Cramer said. So far, National Guard reservists mobilized by the president over the head of a state governor for the first time since the Civil Rights era in the 1960s have mostly been used to defend federal buildings in Los Angeles. While the announcement of a deployment of Marines to the city was superficially alarming, their orders prohibit them from conducting law enforcement activities like making arrests without Trump invoking the Insurrection Act. The Marines are expected to be used to bolster National Guard members on the ground while up to 2,000 reservists are mobilized. CNN's Evan Perez, meanwhile, reported on Monday evening that while officials like top White House aide Stephen Miller have been talking about an 'insurrection,' administration lawyers have been working to craft a much less confrontational way of protecting the federal government's ability to carry out immigration enforcement, hoping to avoid further inflaming the situation, according to multiple people briefed on the discussions. This may all signify that the president is not yet ready to push the nation toward an unprecedented authoritarian cliff — even if his personal history, not least over January 6, 2021, suggests that in the heat of the moment he often takes the most reckless course. And Trump may be playing with fire in a city and state where anger over his wild four-month-old presidency is boiling. By inserting troops into such a volatile and tense environment, he's opening the possibility that flashpoints could ignite and even that tragic circumstances could unfold. But then again, maybe that's the point, if the president is seeking a predicate to deploy active-duty troops on the streets of American cities. Another troubling omen is that Newsom — who, like Trump, relishes public fights — has no incentive to cave to the man he would like to replace as president in 2029. Newsom, for example, wrote on social media on Monday that the president was deploying another 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles, even though only 300 from his initial 2,000-strong contingent had so far arrived in the city. 'This isn't about public safety. It's about stroking a dangerous President's ego,' the governor said. 'This is Reckless. Pointless. And Disrespectful to our troops.' The state has sued the administration over that initial call-up of reservists. State Attorney General Rob Bonta called Trump's federalization of the state's National Guard troops 'unnecessary, counterproductive, and most importantly, unlawful.' The suit created yet another legal morass around one of Trump's most aggressive power grabs. California has now lodged 24 lawsuits against the administration in 19 weeks. With every day that passes in the California public order crisis, the political incentives seem to be driving toward more confrontation rather than a peaceful resolution. But ultimately it's up to Trump how this ends.
