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Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Ukraine's Once Nimble Army Is Mired in Soviet Decision-Making
SUMY, Ukraine — In the first year of Russia's all-out invasion, Ukraine's defenders repeatedly outmaneuvered a lumbering Russian army, relying on improvisation and the judgment of men in the field. Three years on, Ukraine's military has slipped back into a more rigid, top-down mode of fighting with roots in the Soviet era, creating mounting frustration about unnecessary casualties while hurting civilian morale and army recruitment. Without overhauls, the Soviet-style habits could undermine Ukraine's ability to sustain its defense against Russia, which shows no sign of relenting in its quest to conquer the country. Ukrainian officers and infantrymen complain of a centralized command culture that often punishes initiative and wastes men's lives. Generals order repetitive frontal assaults that have little hope of success, and deny requests from beleaguered units to carry out tactical retreats and save their men. Casualties accumulate on operations with little strategic value. 'Our army is holding mainly thanks to the initiative of people up to the level of battalion commander,' said Maj. Oleksiy Pasternak, a veteran officer who argues the higher echelons need urgent change. It isn't holding everywhere. In recent days, small groups of Russian troops have pierced Ukrainian lines at a critical spot in the eastern Donetsk region, taking advantage of Ukraine's infantry shortage. Kyiv is scrambling to stanch the advance. Russia's military suffers from far greater problems of an iron-fisted hierarchy that treats men as disposable. Its inefficiency helps explain why Russia has struggled to turn its advantages in numbers into a decisive breakthrough so far, instead inching forwards at great cost for the past two years. But the issue is more critical for Ukraine, which can't replace its losses as easily as Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has made that central to his strategy. Moscow is aiming to eventually force Ukraine's capitulation by wearing out its army and outlasting its Western support. A cease-fire remains a long shot, despite this Friday's summit in Alaska between Putin and President Trump, because Putin is demanding that Ukraine retreat from strategically vital territory—a demand Kyiv and its European allies flatly reject. Final straw Privately, many Ukrainian soldiers repeat a bitter refrain: 'Big Soviet army beats little Soviet army.' Capt. Oleksandr Shyrshyn, a battalion commander in Ukraine's 47th Mechanized Brigade, took his frustrations public. In May he denounced the army's top brass on Facebook. Railing against 'stupid' orders and losses, he spoke of pervasive fear in the army of generals who are 'only capable of reprimands, investigations, imposing penalties.' Addressing the General Staff of Ukraine's armed forces, he said: 'I hope your children will also be in the infantry and will carry out your tasks.' He told the Journal he was driven to speak out after his battalion was repeatedly ordered by senior commanders to launch assaults that were unrealistic for the unit's limited means. The final straw, said Shyrshyn, was an order for his men to go back into Kursk—a Russian region that Ukrainian forces had partly captured a year ago but ultimately had to withdraw from. The direction of the ordered attack was predictable and the Russians were prepared for it, he said. Wave after wave of Russian infantry counterattacks forced a retreat. Many men were killed, said Shyrshyn, including fresh, well-trained recruits, who are hard to come by. 'They were young and motivated. I had hopes for them. Instead we just lost them.' 'We need to change our methods from quantity to quality,' Shyrshyn said. 'We can't beat Russia with our resources. They are bigger—we need to be better.' Capt. Oleksandr Shyrshyn, a battalion commander in Ukraine's 47th Mechanized Brigade, has taken his frustrations public. After the Facebook post, the army leadership reprimanded Shyrshyn for indiscipline. The military's overall chief, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskiy, brushed him off as an attention-seeker. But many fellow soldiers supported his criticisms. Syrskiy's headquarters, the General Staff of the Ukrainian military, acknowledged some problems in a statement to the Journal but said improvements were being made, including an overhaul of training and the transition to a U.S.-style command approach that delegates more decisions. It said strict top-down control is sometimes needed when units aren't performing, and that brigade commanders are replaced if they're losing too many men. 'A full-scale war has revealed both strengths and vulnerabilities at all levels,' the General Staff statement said. In a sign of a continuing clash of cultures, Maj. Gen. Mykhailo Drapatiy—a 42-year-old seen as one of Ukraine's most talented generals from a younger, post-Soviet generation—resigned as head of ground forces in June. Drapatiy said he was taking responsibility for a Russian missile strike on a training base that killed 12. But he also spoke of his struggle to change an institutional culture based on 'an atmosphere of fear, lack of initiative, closedness to feedback' and 'a deep gap between the headquarters and the units.' He said he had kick-started reforms but more were needed. Soviet tradition Up and down the 750-mile front line, many Ukrainian troops tell stories similar to Shyrshyn's. One common experience: senior commanders have on a number of occasions refused to authorize a timely tactical retreat, leaving men in danger of encirclement and destruction. Front-line officers say such refusals show a wasteful attitude to men's lives by senior ranks who don't want to take the blame for losing ground. Late last year, Lt. Col. Serhiy Kostyshyn wanted to withdraw his battalion of Ukraine's Presidential Brigade from a badly exposed position in the southern part of the Donetsk region. He had intercepted Russian plans to surround the battalion, but staff headquarters kept telling him to stay put, even as larger Russian forces were outflanking the unit, he said. So Kostyshyn made his own decision. Lt. Col. Serhiy Kostyshyn, above, made his own decision last year to conduct a fighting withdrawal from a badly exposed position in the Donetsk region, despite being told to stay of the battalion commanded by Kostyshyn near the front line. Over three rain-sodden days, he conducted a fighting withdrawal. Most of the battalion escaped from the trap, but a platoon that stayed behind to cover the retreat was nearly wiped out. For months afterward, Kostyshyn was investigated by military police and the SBU, Ukraine's counterespionage service, for abandoning a position. Eventually the interrogations petered out, he said. 'If you're dumb and obedient, they leave you alone,' Kostyshyn said. 'It's the Soviet tradition.' Kostyshyn later won a promotion to deputy brigade commander. 'Somebody high up probably saw the logic of my actions,' he said. The SBU declined to comment. The General Staff said initiative on the battlefield is encouraged so long as it doesn't violate orders or lead to the unauthorized abandonment of positions. The tensions in the Ukrainian army reflect the country's larger struggle to move away from its authoritarian past toward a more Westernized, democratic society. The country's dramatic changes since independence in 1991 have often stemmed from spontaneous initiatives by its civil society, including two mass revolts against governments. But many of Ukraine's institutions still bear the legacy of the Soviet past, including bureaucratic instincts of control. Early in the war, soldiers headed into forests alongside veterans and civilians, armed with a mix of Western, Soviet-era and homemade weaponry. Their ingenuity—such as pioneering the use of commercial drones to spot the advancing Russian columns—led to a series of successes in 2022. Defying expectations in both Moscow and Western capitals of a rapid Russian conquest, Ukraine's defenders took back half of the territory that the invaders had captured. 'The butcher' Soon, however, a more old-school command structure emerged. It made a controversial decision that had a lasting impact on morale: to defend the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine for nine months, feeding many experienced army brigades into a meat grinder. The battle for Bakhmut continued for long after it was clear that Ukrainian forces would have to withdraw from the shattered city, which they finally did in May 2023. It remains the deadliest battle of the war. Wounded Ukrainian soldiers arrive at a field hospital on the Bakhmut front line, summer soldiers coming back from the front line at the eastern part of Bakhmut, December soldiers deployed at the front lines near Bakhmut, March 2023. Gen. Syrskiy, then the head of ground forces, directed the grim attritional slugfest, earning him the nickname 'the butcher' from the rank and file. Bakhmut began a worrying pattern for Ukraine's army: It was choosing battles its limited manpower couldn't afford, even though it was killing more Russians. The 60-year-old Syrskiy, who became chief commander of the military in 2024, remains widely unpopular with Ukrainian soldiers, many of whom see him as the epitome of the Soviet syndrome: a Moscow-trained career officer who micromanages units on the ground, delaying retreats or ordering assaults that lead to morale-sapping casualties for tree lines or other objectives with little strategic value. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskiy, right, on a visit to the front line in 2024. The General Staff said preserving soldiers' lives and health is a key priority for the military's leadership. Syrskiy has been enacting measures since 2024 to save lives through better training, use of drone technology and learning from combat experience, the statement said. But many Ukrainian officers say the problems run deeper than Syrskiy. Staff headquarters still include many officers who trained in a Soviet-style military many years before the war. Because of the rapid expansion of the army, many were pulled out of retirement and don't understand the fast-evolving, high-tech drone war on the ground, say veterans of the fighting since 2022. Some officers say the situation is now improving as men with front-line experience rise to senior positions. 'The change is not gigantic, but it's happening,' said Lt. Col. Yehor Derevianko, who is commanding a battalion of the 93rd Mechanized Brigade, another battle-hardened unit fighting on the eastern front. Shouting over the radio For years before Russia's full-scale invasion, countries from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization arranged training for Ukrainian officers to help modernize the country's military. In 2022, Pasternak attended a course in the U.K. to study NATO concepts such as mission command, an approach to warfare where senior commanders set a goal but subordinates on the ground figure out how best to achieve it. It's the antithesis of the top-down Soviet tradition. Maj. Oleksiy Pasternak, who resigned in frustration earlier this year from the 108th Territorial Defense Brigade, photographed in June in Dnipro. He is now training with the new Third Army Corps, which operates with more independence. Pasternak resigned earlier this year from the 108th Territorial Defense Brigade in frustration at commanders' failure to follow the Western military methods. 'The NATO doctrine of mission command is absent from the whole army, except maybe for a few brigades,' he said. 'They're using the Soviet principles. They don't trust the people under them.' During Ukraine's failed 2023 counteroffensive in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, generals from higher-level headquarters were shouting over the radio at brigade commanders, and even at sergeants on the battlefield, to attack again and again, even as units' casualties were making them incapable of combat, Pasternak said. He recalled a battle last year in which 14 Ukrainian infantrymen, supported by artillery and drone units in their rear, were defending buildings in the Zaporizhzhia region against attack by several hundred Russians with armor and drones. Senior commanders insisted that the position be held, he said. Lt. Col. Yehor Derevianko, commander of a battalion of the 93rd Mechanized Brigade, in the basement where his unit has established a headquarters in the Donetsk railway station, destroyed by shelling and drones. What they didn't realize was that another brigade had lost the area on their right flank, but hadn't told anyone. The Russians came in from the side and killed all 14 infantrymen, he said. Fear of being sacked often leads to brigade commanders not reporting that they've lost a position, said Pasternak and other officers. Pasternak is now training with the new Third Army Corps, being built around an elite brigade that's known for breaking with Soviet traditions: It relies on nimble decision-making at lower levels and tries to preserve its men through rigorous training and constantly analyzing and refining tactics. Meanwhile he's under investigation by his old unit for going AWOL. Collecting firewood Ukrainian forces have suffered around 400,000 total casualties, including up to 100,000 killed, according to a recent estimate by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. Russian total casualties are approaching one million, up to 250,000 of them killed, according to the CSIS estimate. But Russia's total population is nearly four times bigger. In a country where everyone has a friend or relative who is fighting, stories of conscripts thrown into the fray after barely any training are hampering Ukraine's recruitment efforts. After the initial wave of patriotic enthusiasm in 2022, volunteers have become a trickle. Some soldiers say they warn friends against enlisting. Comrades and relatives of Yuri Kazakov, an army sergeant killed in June, attend his funeral at a cemetery in Kharkiv. One 50-year-old man from Kyiv said he volunteered for the army early this year and soon regretted it. Training consisted of collecting firewood. 'I didn't even see a gun.' When he joined, he said he was promised a job as a driver in a drone unit, but he was sent to join the front-line infantry near Pokrovsk, another main target of Russia's offensive. He drove back to Kyiv, joining tens of thousands of men who have gone AWOL or deserted. 'I'm happy to serve,' he said. 'But I didn't want to head to the front with no knowledge, not even having fired a gun.' The General Staff said training has been improved since last year and all soldiers are taught basic skills including shooting. Chaos in Kursk For many soldiers, Kyiv's incursion into Kursk was emblematic of how lingering Soviet habits are costing lives. The foray began well. Some of Ukraine's best assault troops stormed over the border last summer, catching the Russians by surprise and seizing more than 400 square miles of territory. Ukraine's government hoped the land could be a bargaining chip in peace negotiations. Carrying the fight to Russia was supposed to change the world's perceptions and boost morale at home. But Kursk soon turned into another attritional battle. Russia brought in reinforcements, including its best drone units and some 10,000 North Korean troops. 'They started to cut off our logistics,' said Shyrshyn, whose 47th Mechanized Brigade took part in the incursion. 'By winter we couldn't continue the operation effectively.' He said he wrote reports describing the problems and proposing solutions, but commanders didn't want to make hard decisions. 'We needed to either change the situation on the battlefield, or withdraw. But we just waited, until everything started falling apart.' Fear of making decisions led to a growing paralysis. Two men from the 41st Mechanized Brigade said their unit spotted a group of Russian soldiers out in the open and asked a commander for a mortar strike. But he refused until he had permission from higher up. A Ukrainian soldier wounded at the front is transported inside a stabilization point in the Donetsk cares for a wounded Ukrainian soldier at the medical stabilization point in the Donetsk region. 'If it doesn't work, I'll get blamed,' the commander said. By the time he got approval, the Russians had disappeared. The commander's comment became a punchline among his men. On another occasion, a corporal from the 41st said he and five other soldiers were hunkered down in a trench that was getting pummeled by Russian drones and artillery. Their overhead cover had been destroyed. They asked for permission to retreat a few hundred yards to another tree line. 'Is the square holding?' a commander responded, referring to a colored square on the army's grid map. Since the answer, for the moment, was yes, he denied permission to withdraw. Only after hours of artillery strikes were they allowed to retreat, carrying two men who couldn't walk. 'On the map it's green squares—looks tidy,' the soldier said. 'But decisions need to be made based on what's happening on the ground.' When the Ukrainians finally retreated from Kursk, it was often desperate and chaotic. Units abandoned their vehicles. Men walked long distances on foot. The main road back to Ukraine, by now under intense Russian fire, was strewn with the smoldering corpses of Ukrainian soldiers and stricken vehicles with more dead servicemen inside, according to troops who retreated. A member of the Bulava drone group of Ukraine's Presidential Brigade leaves a bunker near the eastern front where his unit develops and builds drones. Some platoon commanders who withdrew without permission to save their men's lives were investigated. Other men found themselves abandoned in Kursk without orders. A drone operator with the 17th Tank Brigade, known by his call sign Barsik, said his team was encircled by Russians after earlier being told to stay in place. He and three other men managed to escape. Barsik abandoned his brigade and joined the Da Vinci Wolves, a battalion fighting in the Donetsk region. The battalion, which relies on volunteers and private donations, has an unusual degree of independence and is known for taking care of its men. Other soldiers from the Da Vinci Wolves say they're recruiting a growing number of men who've gone AWOL from their old units. 'People were dying without understanding why. Commanders didn't care about the personnel,' said Barsik. Write to Marcus Walker at and Ian Lovett at Ukraine's Once Nimble Army Is Mired in Soviet Decision-Making Ukraine's Once Nimble Army Is Mired in Soviet Decision-Making Ukraine's Once Nimble Army Is Mired in Soviet Decision-Making Ukraine's Once Nimble Army Is Mired in Soviet Decision-Making Ukraine's Once Nimble Army Is Mired in Soviet Decision-Making Ukraine's Once Nimble Army Is Mired in Soviet Decision-Making Ukraine's Once Nimble Army Is Mired in Soviet Decision-Making Ukraine's Once Nimble Army Is Mired in Soviet Decision-Making Ukraine's Once Nimble Army Is Mired in Soviet Decision-Making Ukraine's Once Nimble Army Is Mired in Soviet Decision-Making Ukraine's Once Nimble Army Is Mired in Soviet Decision-Making Ukraine's Once Nimble Army Is Mired in Soviet Decision-Making Ukraine's Once Nimble Army Is Mired in Soviet Decision-Making Ukraine's Once Nimble Army Is Mired in Soviet Decision-Making
Mint
4 days ago
- Politics
- Mint
Ukraine's once nimble army is mired in Soviet decision-making
SUMY, Ukraine — In the first year of Russia's all-out invasion, Ukraine's defenders repeatedly outmaneuvered a lumbering Russian army, relying on improvisation and the judgment of men in the field. Three years on, Ukraine's military has slipped back into a more rigid, top-down mode of fighting with roots in the Soviet era, creating mounting frustration about unnecessary casualties while hurting civilian morale and army recruitment. Without overhauls, the Soviet-style habits could undermine Ukraine's ability to sustain its defense against Russia, which shows no sign of relenting in its quest to conquer the country. Ukrainian officers and infantrymen complain of a centralized command culture that often punishes initiative and wastes men's lives. Generals order repetitive frontal assaults that have little hope of success, and deny requests from beleaguered units to carry out tactical retreats and save their men. Casualties accumulate on operations with little strategic value. 'Our army is holding mainly thanks to the initiative of people up to the level of battalion commander," said Maj. Oleksiy Pasternak, a veteran officer who argues the higher echelons need urgent change. It isn't holding everywhere. In recent days, small groups of Russian troops have pierced Ukrainian lines at a critical spot in the eastern Donetsk region, taking advantage of Ukraine's infantry shortage. Kyiv is scrambling to stanch the advance. Russia's military suffers from far greater problems of an iron-fisted hierarchy that treats men as disposable. Its inefficiency helps explain why Russia has struggled to turn its advantages in numbers into a decisive breakthrough so far, instead inching forwards at great cost for the past two years. But the issue is more critical for Ukraine, which can't replace its losses as easily as Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has made that central to his strategy. Moscow is aiming to eventually force Ukraine's capitulation by wearing out its army and outlasting its Western support. A cease-fire remains a long shot, despite this Friday's summit in Alaska between Putin and President Trump, because Putin is demanding that Ukraine retreat from strategically vital territory—a demand Kyiv and its European allies flatly reject. A wounded Ukrainian soldier is transported at a stabilization point in the Donetsk region. Privately, many Ukrainian soldiers repeat a bitter refrain: 'Big Soviet army beats little Soviet army." Capt. Oleksandr Shyrshyn, a battalion commander in Ukraine's 47th Mechanized Brigade, took his frustrations public. In May he denounced the army's top brass on Facebook. Railing against 'stupid" orders and losses, he spoke of pervasive fear in the army of generals who are 'only capable of reprimands, investigations, imposing penalties." Addressing the General Staff of Ukraine's armed forces, he said: 'I hope your children will also be in the infantry and will carry out your tasks." He told the Journal he was driven to speak out after his battalion was repeatedly ordered by senior commanders to launch assaults that were unrealistic for the unit's limited means. The final straw, said Shyrshyn, was an order for his men to go back into Kursk—a Russian region that Ukrainian forces had partly captured a year ago but ultimately had to withdraw from. The direction of the ordered attack was predictable and the Russians were prepared for it, he said. Wave after wave of Russian infantry counterattacks forced a retreat. Many men were killed, said Shyrshyn, including fresh, well-trained recruits, who are hard to come by. 'They were young and motivated. I had hopes for them. Instead we just lost them." 'We need to change our methods from quantity to quality," Shyrshyn said. 'We can't beat Russia with our resources. They are bigger—we need to be better." Capt. Oleksandr Shyrshyn, a battalion commander in Ukraine's 47th Mechanized Brigade, has taken his frustrations public. After the Facebook post, the army leadership reprimanded Shyrshyn for indiscipline. The military's overall chief, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskiy, brushed him off as an attention-seeker. But many fellow soldiers supported his criticisms. Syrskiy's headquarters, the General Staff of the Ukrainian military, acknowledged some problems in a statement to the Journal but said improvements were being made, including an overhaul of training and the transition to a U.S.-style command approach that delegates more decisions. It said strict top-down control is sometimes needed when units aren't performing, and that brigade commanders are replaced if they're losing too many men. 'A full-scale war has revealed both strengths and vulnerabilities at all levels," the General Staff statement said. In a sign of a continuing clash of cultures, Maj. Gen. Mykhailo Drapatiy—a 42-year-old seen as one of Ukraine's most talented generals from a younger, post-Soviet generation—resigned as head of ground forces in June. Drapatiy said he was taking responsibility for a Russian missile strike on a training base that killed 12. But he also spoke of his struggle to change an institutional culture based on 'an atmosphere of fear, lack of initiative, closedness to feedback" and 'a deep gap between the headquarters and the units." He said he had kick-started reforms but more were needed. Up and down the 750-mile front line, many Ukrainian troops tell stories similar to Shyrshyn's. One common experience: senior commanders have on a number of occasions refused to authorize a timely tactical retreat, leaving men in danger of encirclement and destruction. Front-line officers say such refusals show a wasteful attitude to men's lives by senior ranks who don't want to take the blame for losing ground. Late last year, Lt. Col. Serhiy Kostyshyn wanted to withdraw his battalion of Ukraine's Presidential Brigade from a badly exposed position in the southern part of the Donetsk region. He had intercepted Russian plans to surround the battalion, but staff headquarters kept telling him to stay put, even as larger Russian forces were outflanking the unit, he said. So Kostyshyn made his own decision. Lt. Col. Serhiy Kostyshyn, above, made his own decision last year to conduct a fighting withdrawal from a badly exposed position in the Donetsk region, despite being told to stay of the battalion commanded by Kostyshyn near the front line. Over three rain-sodden days, he conducted a fighting withdrawal. Most of the battalion escaped from the trap, but a platoon that stayed behind to cover the retreat was nearly wiped out. For months afterward, Kostyshyn was investigated by military police and the SBU, Ukraine's counterespionage service, for abandoning a position. Eventually the interrogations petered out, he said. 'If you're dumb and obedient, they leave you alone," Kostyshyn said. 'It's the Soviet tradition." Kostyshyn later won a promotion to deputy brigade commander. 'Somebody high up probably saw the logic of my actions," he said. The SBU declined to comment. The General Staff said initiative on the battlefield is encouraged so long as it doesn't violate orders or lead to the unauthorized abandonment of positions. The tensions in the Ukrainian army reflect the country's larger struggle to move away from its authoritarian past toward a more Westernized, democratic society. The country's dramatic changes since independence in 1991 have often stemmed from spontaneous initiatives by its civil society, including two mass revolts against governments. But many of Ukraine's institutions still bear the legacy of the Soviet past, including bureaucratic instincts of control. Early in the war, soldiers headed into forests alongside veterans and civilians, armed with a mix of Western, Soviet-era and homemade weaponry. Their ingenuity—such as pioneering the use of commercial drones to spot the advancing Russian columns—led to a series of successes in 2022. Defying expectations in both Moscow and Western capitals of a rapid Russian conquest, Ukraine's defenders took back half of the territory that the invaders had captured. Soon, however, a more old-school command structure emerged. It made a controversial decision that had a lasting impact on morale: to defend the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine for nine months, feeding many experienced army brigades into a meat grinder. The battle for Bakhmut continued for long after it was clear that Ukrainian forces would have to withdraw from the shattered city, which they finally did in May 2023. It remains the deadliest battle of the war. Wounded Ukrainian soldiers arrive at a field hospital on the Bakhmut front line, summer soldiers coming back from the front line at the eastern part of Bakhmut, December soldiers deployed at the front lines near Bakhmut, March 2023. Gen. Syrskiy, then the head of ground forces, directed the grim attritional slugfest, earning him the nickname 'the butcher" from the rank and file. Bakhmut began a worrying pattern for Ukraine's army: It was choosing battles its limited manpower couldn't afford, even though it was killing more Russians. The 60-year-old Syrskiy, who became chief commander of the military in 2024, remains widely unpopular with Ukrainian soldiers, many of whom see him as the epitome of the Soviet syndrome: a Moscow-trained career officer who micromanages units on the ground, delaying retreats or ordering assaults that lead to morale-sapping casualties for tree lines or other objectives with little strategic value. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskiy, right, on a visit to the front line in 2024. The General Staff said preserving soldiers' lives and health is a key priority for the military's leadership. Syrskiy has been enacting measures since 2024 to save lives through better training, use of drone technology and learning from combat experience, the statement said. But many Ukrainian officers say the problems run deeper than Syrskiy. Staff headquarters still include many officers who trained in a Soviet-style military many years before the war. Because of the rapid expansion of the army, many were pulled out of retirement and don't understand the fast-evolving, high-tech drone war on the ground, say veterans of the fighting since 2022. Some officers say the situation is now improving as men with front-line experience rise to senior positions. 'The change is not gigantic, but it's happening," said Lt. Col. Yehor Derevianko, who is commanding a battalion of the 93rd Mechanized Brigade, another battle-hardened unit fighting on the eastern front. For years before Russia's full-scale invasion, countries from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization arranged training for Ukrainian officers to help modernize the country's military. In 2022, Pasternak attended a course in the U.K. to study NATO concepts such as mission command, an approach to warfare where senior commanders set a goal but subordinates on the ground figure out how best to achieve it. It's the antithesis of the top-down Soviet tradition. Maj. Oleksiy Pasternak, who resigned in frustration earlier this year from the 108th Territorial Defense Brigade, photographed in June in Dnipro. He is now training with the new Third Army Corps, which operates with more independence. Pasternak resigned earlier this year from the 108th Territorial Defense Brigade in frustration at commanders' failure to follow the Western military methods. 'The NATO doctrine of mission command is absent from the whole army, except maybe for a few brigades," he said. 'They're using the Soviet principles. They don't trust the people under them." During Ukraine's failed 2023 counteroffensive in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, generals from higher-level headquarters were shouting over the radio at brigade commanders, and even at sergeants on the battlefield, to attack again and again, even as units' casualties were making them incapable of combat, Pasternak said. He recalled a battle last year in which 14 Ukrainian infantrymen, supported by artillery and drone units in their rear, were defending buildings in the Zaporizhzhia region against attack by several hundred Russians with armor and drones. Senior commanders insisted that the position be held, he said. Lt. Col. Yehor Derevianko, commander of a battalion of the 93rd Mechanized Brigade, in the basement where his unit has established a headquarters in the Donetsk railway station, destroyed by shelling and drones. What they didn't realize was that another brigade had lost the area on their right flank, but hadn't told anyone. The Russians came in from the side and killed all 14 infantrymen, he said. Fear of being sacked often leads to brigade commanders not reporting that they've lost a position, said Pasternak and other officers. Pasternak is now training with the new Third Army Corps, being built around an elite brigade that's known for breaking with Soviet traditions: It relies on nimble decision-making at lower levels and tries to preserve its men through rigorous training and constantly analyzing and refining tactics. Meanwhile he's under investigation by his old unit for going AWOL. Ukrainian forces have suffered around 400,000 total casualties, including up to 100,000 killed, according to a recent estimate by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. Russian total casualties are approaching one million, up to 250,000 of them killed, according to the CSIS estimate. But Russia's total population is nearly four times bigger. In a country where everyone has a friend or relative who is fighting, stories of conscripts thrown into the fray after barely any training are hampering Ukraine's recruitment efforts. After the initial wave of patriotic enthusiasm in 2022, volunteers have become a trickle. Some soldiers say they warn friends against enlisting. Comrades and relatives of Yuri Kazakov, an army sergeant killed in June, attend his funeral at a cemetery in Kharkiv. One 50-year-old man from Kyiv said he volunteered for the army early this year and soon regretted it. Training consisted of collecting firewood. 'I didn't even see a gun." When he joined, he said he was promised a job as a driver in a drone unit, but he was sent to join the front-line infantry near Pokrovsk, another main target of Russia's offensive. He drove back to Kyiv, joining tens of thousands of men who have gone AWOL or deserted. 'I'm happy to serve," he said. 'But I didn't want to head to the front with no knowledge, not even having fired a gun." The General Staff said training has been improved since last year and all soldiers are taught basic skills including shooting. For many soldiers, Kyiv's incursion into Kursk was emblematic of how lingering Soviet habits are costing lives. The foray began well. Some of Ukraine's best assault troops stormed over the border last summer, catching the Russians by surprise and seizing more than 400 square miles of territory. Ukraine's government hoped the land could be a bargaining chip in peace negotiations. Carrying the fight to Russia was supposed to change the world's perceptions and boost morale at home. But Kursk soon turned into another attritional battle. Russia brought in reinforcements, including its best drone units and some 10,000 North Korean troops. 'They started to cut off our logistics," said Shyrshyn, whose 47th Mechanized Brigade took part in the incursion. 'By winter we couldn't continue the operation effectively." He said he wrote reports describing the problems and proposing solutions, but commanders didn't want to make hard decisions. 'We needed to either change the situation on the battlefield, or withdraw. But we just waited, until everything started falling apart." Fear of making decisions led to a growing paralysis. Two men from the 41st Mechanized Brigade said their unit spotted a group of Russian soldiers out in the open and asked a commander for a mortar strike. But he refused until he had permission from higher up. A Ukrainian soldier wounded at the front is transported inside a stabilization point in the Donetsk cares for a wounded Ukrainian soldier at the medical stabilization point in the Donetsk region. 'If it doesn't work, I'll get blamed," the commander said. By the time he got approval, the Russians had disappeared. The commander's comment became a punchline among his men. On another occasion, a corporal from the 41st said he and five other soldiers were hunkered down in a trench that was getting pummeled by Russian drones and artillery. Their overhead cover had been destroyed. They asked for permission to retreat a few hundred yards to another tree line. 'Is the square holding?" a commander responded, referring to a colored square on the army's grid map. Since the answer, for the moment, was yes, he denied permission to withdraw. Only after hours of artillery strikes were they allowed to retreat, carrying two men who couldn't walk. 'On the map it's green squares—looks tidy," the soldier said. 'But decisions need to be made based on what's happening on the ground." When the Ukrainians finally retreated from Kursk, it was often desperate and chaotic. Units abandoned their vehicles. Men walked long distances on foot. The main road back to Ukraine, by now under intense Russian fire, was strewn with the smoldering corpses of Ukrainian soldiers and stricken vehicles with more dead servicemen inside, according to troops who retreated. A member of the Bulava drone group of Ukraine's Presidential Brigade leaves a bunker near the eastern front where his unit develops and builds drones. Some platoon commanders who withdrew without permission to save their men's lives were investigated. Other men found themselves abandoned in Kursk without orders. A drone operator with the 17th Tank Brigade, known by his call sign Barsik, said his team was encircled by Russians after earlier being told to stay in place. He and three other men managed to escape. Barsik abandoned his brigade and joined the Da Vinci Wolves, a battalion fighting in the Donetsk region. The battalion, which relies on volunteers and private donations, has an unusual degree of independence and is known for taking care of its men. Other soldiers from the Da Vinci Wolves say they're recruiting a growing number of men who've gone AWOL from their old units. 'People were dying without understanding why. Commanders didn't care about the personnel," said Barsik. Write to Marcus Walker at and Ian Lovett at
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Top commander's resignation puts new scrutiny on Ukraine's military leadership
Ukraine's military has once again been rocked by a scandal around its leadership culture, with another high-profile commander speaking out against the country's top brass over bad orders leading to excess losses. On May 16, well-renowned officer Oleksandr Shyrshyn, callsign 'Genius,' announced his resignation from his position as battalion commander of Ukraine's 47th Mechanized Brigade. "I've never received dumber orders than the ones in our current sector,' wrote Shyrshyn, whose brigade was moved to Russia's Kursk Oblast in October and is now holding the line along the border with Ukraine's Sumy Oblast. 'Someday I'll tell the details, but this idiotic loss of people and trembling before incompetent generals leads to nothing but failures. All they're capable of is reprimands, investigations, and disciplinary sanctions." Shyrshyn's accusations point to actions by the military leadership leading to excess losses of personnel, equipment, and territory, borne out of a systemic disconnect from the soldiers fighting on the ground. Raised before in a series of scandals that have rocked the Ukrainian military under the leadership of Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, the issues are related closely to perceptions of an inefficient, 'Soviet'-style command culture that has plagued the Armed Forces since Ukraine's independence. Over 2025, efforts have been made to reform the leadership through personnel changes in the General Staff and a gradual transition to a corps system, but many of the changes are yet to be felt on the ground. 'Thank you, General Staff!' read the last line of the commander's Facebook post. 'I hope that your children will serve in the infantry and carry out your orders.' The announcement was soon picked up by Ukrainian media, with different commanders and other high-profile military figures weighing in. The Kyiv Independent reached out to the General Staff for comment but hasn't received a response as of publication time. In a post on Facebook, the General Staff said it would conduct an internal investigation into the circumstances that led to Shyrshyn's announcement. 'Additionally, orders and directives issued from various levels of military command will be analyzed in detail to assess the appropriateness of the decisions made under the existing combat conditions," the statement read. The Kyiv Independent spoke to two fellow officers — one current and one former — from Shyrshyn's battalion, both of whom backed the commander. A native of Mykolaiv and prominent figure in Ukrainian civil society, Shyrshyn began his military career in Ukraine's 80th Air Assault Brigade, signing a reservist contract right before the launch of Russia's full-scale invasion. In January 2023, Shyrshyn gained attention when a photo of him reading U.S. professor Timothy Snyder's book 'On the Road to Unfreedom' while lying in a trench went viral online. In summer that year, Shyrshyn took part in the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive in Zaporizhzhia Oblast as a company commander in the newly-formed 47th Mechanized Brigade, which was famously trained in NATO countries and equipped with Ukraine's first Leopard 2 tanks and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles. Fighting at the spearhead of the much-awaited counteroffensive, the brigade, which had not seen combat prior, quickly took heavy losses after it was ordered to assault the best-defended part of Russia's Surovikin Line of fortifications. Nonetheless, soldiers fighting under Shyrshyn said that despite the difficult conditions, the commander always went above and beyond to carry out orders while also preserving the lives of his rank and file. "Our commander has never assigned a task he wouldn't carry out himself. That's why he is deeply respected by the entire personnel," said an officer still serving in Shyrshyn's battalion, who asked to be identified only by his callsign 'SAS' due to security reasons. 'Genius (Shyrshyn) feels a deep sense of responsibility for his position, for his battalion, and for the people who trust him with their survival — every day, without exception." Then serving as company commander, Shyrshyn often led his soldiers on combat missions, including assaults and evacuations, often rarity among higher-ranking officers, said machine gunner and squad leader Oleksii Nazarenko, who served for seven months under Shyrshyn, to the Kyiv Independent. 'He was very involved in order to protect the personnel as a whole,' he said. 'He was there whenever there were issues related to evacuating people — it was never the case that he tried to avoid responsibility or distance himself.' "Our brigade has consistently been sent into the areas with the most intense fighting." In October 2023, when the counteroffensive had culminated, the 47th was transferred to Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast, where Russia had launched a fresh new offensive. Over the following months, the brigade fought at the center of the most intense sector of the front line, as Russian forces overwhelmed Ukrainian defensive lines behind Avdiivka and pierced toward the city of Pokrovsk. During the Pokrovsk campaign, Shyrshyn — by now 1st Battalion commander — already then made headlines for speaking out against the higher command, claiming that his battalion was sent to hold nearly-encircled positions after neighboring units had buckled. 'Because of the 'not a step back, we stand till the last soldier' attitude of our generals, we suffered losses that were avoidable,' he said to Ukrainian media outlet Hromadske in July. For Nazarenko, the brutality of the infantry war in the 47th's sector, combined with the often impossible missions set by higher command, led him to leave the brigade in February 2024. 'They (higher command) kept carrying out the same kind of orders over and over, which simply led to dead ends — we were running out of equipment, and we were running out of people,' he said. Just a few weeks after Ukrainian forces broke across the state border with Russia in a surprise offensive on Kursk Oblast, the 47th Brigade, with its Leopard and Abrams tanks, was soon redeployed to this new front. With Russia deploying thousands of North Korean troops to expel Ukrainian forces from Kursk Oblast, along with some of its best drone units armed with unjammable fiber optic drones, maintaining the area became increasingly costly for coming in March 2025, the Ukrainian command's decision to withdraw so late from Kursk salient was publicly criticized at the time, with testimonies and visuals pointing to a surge in vehicle and personnel losses during the retreat. For the 47th Brigade, deployed in the sector deepest inside Russian territory with the most exposed logistics routes, the delay was especially painful. "Our brigade has consistently been sent into the areas with the most intense fighting,' said SAS. 'This particular sector differs only in that it is politically important to our top political leadership.' 'It's crucial for them to hold this area at any cost, and that's precisely why they disregard the number of human losses required to retain this land, this territory." Shyrshyn's complaints align with ongoing, widely-held criticism of the command culture of Ukraine's military leadership that escalated over the second half of 2024 and into 2025 as Kyiv's fortunes worsened on the battlefield. The problems are often associated with mentality and working practices that lead to false reporting delivered up the command chain, impossible or 'suicide' orders delivered back down to commanders in the field, and a general prioritization of results on paper and personal reputation of ranking officers over the lives of personnel. Often, as Shyrshyn mentioned, these issues are manifested in orders handed down to battalion commanders like him that in no way correspond to the combat strength of the unit, and are certain to only result in unnecessary losses. 'Which position to retake, which tree line to clear — completely populist, unjustified, unsupported — idiotic assault operations or missions that senselessly put personnel in danger." Faced with a disconnect between high command and the reality on the ground, commanders at brigade and battalion level like Shyrshyn are often then forced to do their best to stand up for their personnel, communicate the need for better orders upwards, and find the best possible compromise between carrying out the order and protecting their soldiers. But according to SAS, these attempts mostly fell on deaf ears. 'Shyrshyn submitted out-of-turn reports about the impossibility of carrying out these orders, offered proposals on how the objectives assigned could be fulfilled and consistently shared his opinions — directly and straightforwardly, as he always does,' said the officer. 'Going public was a logical next step after a person grows tired of fighting windmills. If you hit a wall a hundred times, maybe it's just easier to open a window on Facebook and write it there." As of the time of publication, Ukraine's General Staff has not responded to questions from the Kyiv Independent about Shyrshyn's resignation and the pending investigation. Read also: As Ukraine's fate hangs in the balance, 'Soviet' command culture damages war effort Shyrshyn's post was met with words of support from many serving and former soldiers, as well as high-profile journalists and volunteers. Bohdan Krotevych, the former chief of staff of the National Guard's Azov Brigade, who made headlines in June 2024 for a similar public move against Ukrainian general Yurii Sodol, asserted that Ukraine's very highest leadership should be held responsible for excess losses. 'Nearly 99.9% of the tasks assigned to the battalions are direct orders from the General Staff,' Krotevych wrote on X. 'Which position to retake, which tree line to clear — completely populist, unjustified, unsupported — idiotic assault operations or missions that senselessly put personnel in danger." Meanwhile, other prominent commanders closed ranks with the high command, hitting back at Shyrshyn for going public. In an unusually aggressive tone, the official page of Ukraine's 425th Assault Regiment, better known as 'Skala,' accused Shyrshyn of refusing to carry out orders. 'He (Shyrshyn) ignores the tasks assigned by higher leadership, leading to senseless losses among the personnel,' the post read.'His leadership consistently ends in failure instead of results. The only thing he seems capable of is criticizing and shifting responsibility." 'I believe that these posts represent the General Staff's response, they were made to order,' said SAS in reaction to Skala's post. 'We fought together with Skala when they were still a small unit, we evacuated their wounded, we helped one another. I can't believe that a commander that has gone through that would let their communications team write that voluntarily.' Having faced internal checks and investigations numerous times as part of the regular interactions between the brigade and the top brass, SAS expressed doubt that the General Staff's response could bring anything positive. "Inspections only show up to screw someone over — to find a flaw and punish someone for it. Not to fix it, not to improve the situation. These people are useless; it would be far better to send them to us as reinforcements instead." In his post online, Krotevych argued that even if Shyrshyn isn't punished himself, it is unlikely that any meaningful changes will occur where they are most needed. "When they find a scapegoat in the form of the brigade commander, the commander of the operational-tactical group, or the operational-strategic command — I won't be surprised. The higher military leadership is not used to taking responsibility." Hi, this is Francis Farrell, thanks for reading this article. It's much more comfortable to simply focus on the heroism of Ukrainian soldiers, but sometimes, because of these systemic problems, it is the heroism alone which is holding the line, when there could have been a better organized defense that would preserve these heroes' lives for the long term. I hope this piece is a simple reminder that Ukraine's performance on the battlefield is not just a function of Western aid, but also of what Kyiv does with what it has. To fund our reporting, we rely on our community of over 18,000 members from around the world, most of whom give just $5 a month. We're aiming to reach 20,000 soon — join our community and help us reach this goal. We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Zelensky: Russia is already breaching ‘Easter truce'
Credit: Kremlin Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Moscow of failing to uphold an 'Easter truce' announced by Vladimir Putin. Ukraine's president said his forces would abide by the ceasefire if the Kremlin did the same, but said Russian artillery fire had not stopped and its attempt to seize territory continued. 'Russian assault operations continue on several front-line sectors, and Russian artillery fire has not subsided,' Mr Zelensky wrote on social media an hour and a half after the truce was meant to begin. 'Therefore, there is no trust in words coming from Moscow.' The temporary ceasefire, Putin said in a televised meeting with his commander-in-chief, would last from 6pm Moscow time (4pm BST) yesterday until midnight (10pm BST) tonight. But Ukrainian politicians and soldiers said Russia's president was not to be trusted, with Mr Zelensky saying that shelling had continued past the 6pm start time. 'If a complete ceasefire truly takes hold, Ukraine proposes extending it beyond the Easter day of April 20,' Mr Zelensky said. 'If Russia is now suddenly ready to truly engage in a format of full and unconditional silence, Ukraine will act accordingly – mirroring Russia's actions,' he added. Putin's proposal was seen by critics as a naked attempt to curry favour with Donald Trump, the US president, who threatened on Friday to walk out of peace talks unless a ceasefire agreement was reached soon. Mr Zelensky had earlier labelled the proposed truce as nothing more than Putin trying to 'play with human lives'. Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine's foreign minister, said Ukraine had endured a 'long history' of Putin's deceptions and that the dictator's words 'cannot be trusted'. He added that Kyiv stood by its original agreement with the US in March to abide by a 30-day cease fire. 'Unfortunately, we have had a long history of his statements not matching his actions,' Mr Sybiha said. 'We know his words cannot be trusted and we will look at actions, not words. Russia can agree at any time to the proposal for a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire, which has been on the table since March.' A senior Ukrainian military officer reportedly received orders to stop firing on Russian positions minutes after the truce was due to start, suggesting that Kyiv had given the order to observe it. Captain Oleksandr Shyrshyn, battalion commander in the 47th Mechanized Brigade, told The Sunday Telegraph that Ukraine had 'encountered similar situations in the past when Russia made statements about a truce or a ceasefire'. Russians 'consistently disregarded the statements [and tried] to blame us. I don't trust Russians, and I believe they will fabricate scenarios', he added. Mykola Bielieskov, a senior analyst at the Kyiv-based National Institute for Strategic Studies, said he saw the Russian president's proposal as 'classic Putin who wants to manipulate Donald Trump's perception and drive a wedge between Ukraine and the US'. 'Ukraine should remind everyone about the comprehensive, unconditional ceasefire that Russia rejected,' he added. Yesterday also saw 277 Ukrainian soldiers being returned from captivity in the largest exchange of PoWs in the conflict's history. Footage showed hundreds of the former prisoners hugging one another with the blue and yellow flag draped over their shoulders. Russia's Ministry of Defence said 246 of its service members were returned from territory controlled by Kyiv, and that 'as a gesture of goodwill' 31 wounded Ukrainian PoWs were transferred in exchange for 15 wounded Russian soldiers. The Ministry said its troops had been instructed about the ceasefire and would adhere to it, provided it was 'mutually respected' by Ukraine. Putin told Valery Gerasimov, the Chief of Russia's General Staff, during the televised address to have his forces ready to 'repel possible violations of the truce'. Russia on Friday had abandoned a moratorium on striking Ukrainian energy targets after each side accused the other of breaking a supposed deal without any formal agreement in place. The latest truce proposal will show 'how sincere is the Kyiv's regime's readiness, its desire and ability to observe agreements and participate in a process of peace talks,' Putin said. Previous attempts at holding ceasefires for Easter in April 2022 and Orthodox Christmas in Jan 2023 collapsed after both sides failed to agree on them. The proposal comes after months of Mr Trump pushing both Moscow and Kyiv to agree to a truce. He has so far failed to extract any major concessions from the Kremlin. Richard Kemp, a former British Army officer, said the truce would allow Putin to falsely paint Mr Zelensky to Mr Trump as the aggressor if the fighting continued. He said: 'He is likely attempting to seize the narrative to appease Trump and allow him to declare some kind of negotiating victory. 'The Kremlin's emphasis on bracing for Ukrainian 'provocations' indicates his intent to seize on or manufacture any such incidents to proclaim that Zelensky is not serious about peace and parry the ball back into Kyiv's court, so inciting further demands on Ukraine from the White House,' he added. Only a few kilometres from the front lines in the east, Ukrainian soldiers shared their leader's distrust of the proposed ceasefire. Dmitry, a 40-year-old soldier, said: 'I think this man [Putin] is evil, a murderer, but he can do it. He might do it to give some hope or to show his humanity. But either way, of course, we don't trust. These 30 hours will lead to nothing. The killings of our people, and theirs, will 100 per cent continue.' A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: 'Ukraine has committed to a full ceasefire. We urge Russia to do the same – not just a one-day pause. That will create space for talks on a just and lasting peace. We deplore the Kremlin's bombing of Ukrainian cities. Now is the moment for Putin to show he is serious about peace by ending his horrible invasion.' Cap Shyrshyn, of the 47th Mechanized Brigade, told The Sunday Telegraph: 'We have encountered similar situations in the past when Russia made statements about a truce or a ceasefire, yet they consistently disregarded the statements [and tried] to blame us. 'I don't trust Russians, and I believe they will fabricate scenarios, similar to the numerous instances where they have publicly expressed their desire to end the war, only to claim that Ukrainian officials fail to adhere to their agreements and threaten to respond by attacking civilians'. Thanks for following our live coverage of the war in Ukraine. We'll be back soon with more updates and analysis from the conflict. On the eve of Easter, President Volodymyr Zelensky has called Russia 'one of the biggest threats to Christian churches and believers'. Ukrainians will go to church on Sunday under the shadow of a ceasefire announced by Vladimir Putin which both sides have accused each other of violating. Easter falls on the same day this year for Orthodox and Western sects of Christianity, which is a rare occurrence. 'For millions of Ukrainians, Easter is one of the most important holidays. And millions of Ukrainians will go to church. Sadly, many will go to churches that are damaged or destroyed,' Mr Zelensky wrote in a post on X. Russia has destroyed over 600 religious sites in Ukraine throughout the three-year conflict and killed or tortured 67 priests, pastors and monks, Mr Zelensky said. Mr Zelensky said: 'Just like we're bringing back priests and pastors from Russian captivity, just like we're doing everything to protect Ukrainian towns and villages and the lives of people there – we are also bringing back the chance to believe, to believe that evil and destruction will not win.' The Ukrainian president in a further update said that 'fighting continues' in the Kursk and Belgorod regions. Mr Zelensky, citing a report from his commander-in-chief, suggests that 'Easter statements by Putin did not extend to this territory'. 'Russian artillery can still be heard in certain directions of the front, regardless of the Russian leader's promise of silence,' he said but added that it 'has become quieter' in some areas. He said a proposal for a 30-day full and unconditional ceasefire 'remains on the table' and that Ukraine's actions are 'symmetrical' to Russia's. Residents of Moscow had a bleak outlook on the chances of peace after Putin's announcement of an Easter ceasefire. In the south of the Russian capital, people said it was unlikely the pause in fighting would provide a breakthrough that could end the three-year conflict because Ukraine 'could not be trusted'. 'The Easter truce will lead to nothing, because Ukraine will not honour these agreements,' said Svetlana, 61, who did not give her surname. Another resident, Maria Goranina, 85, told AFP that Ukraine will 'regroup after this truce and come at us again'. This is despite testimony by a Ukrainian soldier that Russia has already violated its own ceasefire with constant drone attacks and shelling. Critics of the invasion face harsh punishment in Russia under its censorship rules instituted shortly after the outbreak of war, with many people sentenced to lengthy prison terms. Svetlana also questioned Putin's decision to halt fighting. 'Three years have gone by, so many maimed, disabled, dead. And we've gone through some part of Ukraine, and that's it?' she said. 'I don't understand at all then, what it's all for.' Other residents were more hawkish and backed a more aggressive campaign over the ceasefire. 'I do not believe in Ukraine. There will be no such truce, there will be shelling and so on,' Yevgeny Pavlov, 58, told AFP. 'There is no need to give a respite. If we press, it means we should press to the end.' Ukraine said it would reciprocate any 'genuine' ceasefire efforts from Russia, but was wary of Putin's announcement of an Easter pause. Putin has not offered details as to how the 'humanitarian' ceasefire will be enforced and if it would only cover airstrikes or also ground battles. Russia said the ceasefire was supposed to begin at 6pm Moscow time on Saturday and would end at midnight after Easter Sunday, despite accusations from Ukraine that Russia has already violated its own agreement. Whether the ceasefire is upheld will 'reveal Russia's true intentions', President Volodymyr Zelensky said, proposing an extension of the truce beyond Easter. 'If a full ceasefire truly takes hold, Ukraine proposes extending it beyond Easter Day on April 20,' Mr Zelensky said in a post on Telegram. 'That will reveal Russia's true intentions, as 30 hours are enough for headlines, but not for genuine confidence-building measures.' Russia is 'constantly launching drones' and shelling despite Putin's announcement of an Easter ceasefire, a Ukrainian soldier told The Telegraph. Maksym, a drone pilot fighting between Kharkiv and Russia's Belgorod region, said: 'At the moment, they are constantly launching drones, not to mention shelling.' The truce is not sustainable or 'realistic – at least not for now', Maksym said, because Russia has violated other similar agreements. 'These things aren't arranged so quickly or easily. Besides, they've already shown they don't stick to such agreements,' he said. 'It is not realistic to stop hostilities at one moment.' Ukrainian soldiers released from captivity were shown reuniting with their families in new footage posted by President Volodymyr Zelensky. The soldiers, many of them draped in Ukrainian flags, hugged or called their family members as they wiped tears from their eyes. 'Today. Our people are home,' Mr Zelensky wrote on X. President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that 277 Ukrainian prisoners of war have been released. 'Our people are home – one of the best pieces of news that can be. Another 277 warriors have returned home from Russian captivity,' Mr Zelensky wrote in a post on X. 'I thank everyone who made this return of our people possible.' The release was part of the largest prisoner exchange in the three-year conflict, with over 500 troops on both sides involved. Soldiers who fought in Mariupol are among those who have been freed, along with troops who were captured in Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Luhansk. The United Arab Emirates mediated to secure the release of the soldiers, Mr Zelensky said. A total of 4,552 Ukrainian soldiers and civilians have been brought back from Russian captivity since Putin's invasion began in Feb 2022. President Volodymyr Zelensky pledged that Ukraine would abide by the ceasefire and suggested the truce be extended. 'If Russia is now suddenly ready to truly engage in a format of full and unconditional silence, Ukraine will act accordingly - mirroring Russia's actions,' he wrote on X. But at the same time, he said that Russia was continuing military action on several frontline sectors. Oleksandr Prokudin, governor of Ukraine's southern Kherson region, said there had been eight Russian drone attacks, setting fire to a high-rise block as well as hitting two villages. Air-raid sirens sounded in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Saturday evening, despite the start of Putin's 'Easter truce'. An alert message told Kyiv residents to proceed to shelters. AFP journalists heard sirens sound shortly before 10:00pm (local time) as the air force warned of a 'missile threat' in the surrounding Kyiv region. Captain Oleksandr Shyrshyn, battalion commander in the 47th Mechanized Brigade, says he does not trust Russia's 'Easter truce'. 'We have encountered similar situations in the past ... they consistently disregarded the statements made by them, trying to blame us. 'I don't trust Russians, and I believe they will fabricate scenarios ... where they have publicly expressed their desire to end the war, only to have Ukrainian officials fail to adhere to their agreements and threaten to respond by attacking civilians'. Mykola Bielieskov, a senior analyst at the Kyiv-based National Institute for Strategic Studies said: 'I think it's a classic Putin who wants to manipulate Donald Trump perception and drive a wedge between UA and US making Trump think that's RU open to dialogue while Ukraine shall be squeezed by US to make concessions. 'Ukraine shall remind about comprehensive unconditional ceasefire in all domains of war Russia rejected.' Andriy Kovalenko, an official on Ukraine's national security and defence council, has claimed Russia is continuing its attacks. 'The Russians keep firing on all fronts — just like before,' he wrote on X. 'The heaviest shelling is in the East. So much for Putin's so-called 'ceasefire'. He never meant to keep it.' Vladimir Putin's announcement of an Easter ceasefire was greeted sceptically by Ukrainian soldiers. They did not trust the Russian president to keep his word and were doubtful that a pause in the fighting would lead to a prolonged end to the hostilities. 'Of course there's distrust,' said 40-year-old soldier, Dmitry, told AFP in the city of Kramatorsk, around 20 kilometres from the front in the eastern Donetsk region. 'I think this man (Putin) is evil, a murderer, but he can do it. He might do it to give some hope or to show his humanity. But either way, of course, we don't trust. These 30 hours will lead to nothing.' A Kyiv-based MP says air raid sirens sounded in the Ukrainian capital in the moments after Vladimir Putin announced an Easter truce. 'Drones were entering Kyiv,' Lisa Yasko said before suggesting that the city witnessed a 'one hour' attack. 'A ceasefire for one day, even if it happens, is like a joke,' she told the BBC. Ms Yasko suggested that the surprise announcement could be a manoeuvre by the Russian president to appease the United States. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that Kyiv had in March 'agreed unconditionally to the U.S. proposal of a full interim ceasefire for 30 days,' which Russia rejected. 'Putin has now made statements about his alleged readiness for a ceasefire. 30 hours instead of 30 days,' Mr Sybiha continued, writing on X. Unfortunately, we have had a long history of his statements not matching his actions. Putin's ceasefire announcement came after US President Donald Trump on Friday said negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are 'coming to a head' and insisted that neither side is 'playing' him in his push to end the grinding three-year war. Trump spoke shortly after Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that the U.S. may 'move on' from trying to secure a Russia-Ukraine peace deal if there is no progress in the coming days, after months of efforts have failed to bring an end to the fighting. Previous attempts at holding ceasefires for Easter in April 2022 and Orthodox Christmas in January 2023 were not implemented after both sides failed to agree on them. Ukraine last month agreed to Trump's proposal for a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire, only for Putin to reject it. Putin's administration has carried out lightning raids across Russia for several weeks in an 'overtly aggressive' attempt to enlist more fledgling recruits for the war in Ukraine. During an evening workout at Spirit Fitness in south-east Moscow, gym-goers were suddenly told to drop to the floor. According to witnesses, police divide those at the gym into citizens and non-citizens. Russians are taken to enlistment offices, where their military records are checked. Read more here from Kieran Kelly The Telegraph's Associate Defence Editor Dom Nicholls gives his analysis below. He's made an announcement about military activity that may or may not happen, hoping to curry favour with Trump and try and make make Ukraine look bad to Trump if they continue fighting. Ukraine agreed to Trump's 30-day unconditional ceasefire over a month ago, Russia did not, strangely without consequences. Putin shouldn't get any applause now for this stunt. Russia and Ukraine on Saturday held a large prisoner of war exchange, with each side handing back more than 240 prisoners, the Russian defence ministry said. 'On April 19... 246 Russian soldiers were returned from territory controlled by the Kyiv regime. In return 246 Ukrainian prisoners of war were handed over. 'Also as a good will gesture, 31 wounded prisoners of war were handed over in exchange for 15 wounded Russian prisoners of war needing urgent medical help,' the ministry said in a statement on social media.' The Russian Ministry of Defence has released a statement confirming that Russia will stop all military operations from 18:00 Moscow time (16:00 BST) today until midnight on 21 April (22:00 BST). The ministry says all military actions have been ordered to stop, adding that the decision was 'guided by humanitarian considerations'. They say they expect the Ukrainian side to do the same. 'At the same time, our troops must be ready to repel possible violations of the truce and provocations from the enemy, any of its aggressive actions,' the ministry says in a statement that has been translated. Ukraine's air force reported that Russia fired 87 exploding drones and decoys in the latest wave of attacks overnight into Saturday. Anti-air measures managed to intercept 33 of them. Another 36 were lost, likely having been electronically jammed. Russian attacks damaged farms in the Odesa region and sparked fires in the Sumy region overnight, Ukraine's State Emergency Service said Saturday. Fires were contained, and no casualties were reported. Russia has pushed Ukrainian forces from one of their last remaining footholds in Russia's Kursk region, officials said Saturday. According to Russia's Defence Ministry, its forces took control of the village of Oleshnya, on the border with Ukraine. 'Units of the 'North' military group have liberated the village of Oleshnya in the Kursk region during active offensive operations,' the ministry said in a statement. There was was no immediate response from Ukrainian officials. According to Russian state news agency TASS, Russia is still fighting to push Ukrainian forces out of the village of Gornal, some seven miles (11 kilometers) south of Oleshnya. 'The Russian military has yet to push the Ukrainian Armed Forces out of Gornal ... in order to completely liberate the Kursk region. Fierce fighting is underway in the settlement,' the agency reported, citing Russia security agencies. Vladimir Putin has ordered his troops to stand ready for any 'violations of the truce' by Ukrainian forces. He said: 'With humanitarian considerations, today from 6pm, from Sunday to Monday, the Russian side declares the Easter truce. 'I order to stop all hostilities during this period. We assume that the Ukrainian side will follow our example. 'At the same time our troops must be ready to reflect possible violations of the truce and provocations by the enemy in any of its aggressive actions. 'We know that the Kyiv regime has violated the agreement not to strike at the energy infrastructure more than a hundred times, as you reported to me. 'Therefore, I ask you to be extremely attentive and focused to be ready for an immediate response in full.' 'Our decision on the Easter truce will show how sincere is the readiness of the Kyiv regime and its desire and ability to comply with the agreements, to participate int eh peace talks aimed at eliminating the primary cause of the Ukrainian crisis.' Vladimir Putin, speaking to Russian chief of staff Valery Gerasimov, said: 'Today from 1800 (1500 GMT) to midnight Sunday (2100 GMT Sunday), the Russian side announces an Easter truce.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ukraine driven out of Kursk ahead of Putin-Trump peace announcement
Ukraine was fighting for control of the last pocket of territory it holds in Russia's Kursk region on Monday night, as Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin prepared to announce details of a temporary ceasefire. Mr Trump and Putin are due to speak on the phone on Tuesday after Washington and Moscow held behind-the-scenes talks over the weekend. Ukrainian troops have been forced into a hasty retreat from southern Russia after Mr Trump froze weapons and intelligence-sharing, depriving Kyiv of a bargaining chip in peace negotiations. On Monday night, the US president was said to be considering recognising Crimea as part of Russia in what would amount to a gift to Putin. Meanwhile, Ukrainian troops were hanging on to a final sliver of territory and a few villages in the Kursk region as troops told of a chaotic escape under heavy fire. Credit: 47th Mechanized Brigade With the withdrawal almost complete, Mr Trump said: 'I'll be speaking to President Putin [on] Tuesday. A lot of work's been done over the weekend. We're doing pretty well, I think, with Russia. We'll see if we have something to announce by Tuesday.' Russia has strengthened its position in future talks to end the war after driving Ukrainian troops back across the border in Kursk. On Monday, Moscow also claimed it was now gaining territory in the east of Ukraine after piercing defensive lines. Putin rejected early offers of a 30-day truce last week, saying he had 'questions' over the agreement and whether it met some of Russia's key demands. It led to warnings from Sir Keir Starmer that Putin was playing for time. When asked on Sunday night about concessions under consideration, Mr Trump replied: 'I think we'll be talking about land... we'll be talking about power plants. I think we have a lot of it already discussed very much by both sides, Ukraine and Russia. We're already talking about that, dividing up certain assets.' The US president was likely to have been referring to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe and under Russian occupation since 2022. Ukraine has urged Russian troops to withdraw from the plant, which is not currently generating electricity. Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said on Monday night that 'we have never been closer to a peace deal'. David Lammy, the foreign secretary, disclosed on Monday that he had held last-minute talks with JD Vance, the vice-president, at his Washington DC residence on Sunday. Mr Lammy is due to speak to Kaja Kallas, the European Union's top diplomat, on Tuesday. She is likely to raise her Brussels-led plan to raise €40 billion (£33.6 billion) in military support for Ukraine, which is open for 'non-EU partner states' to join. On Monday she urged caution on Russia offering a peace deal. 'What we see right now is that Russia doesn't really want peace. And also the understanding around the table is that Russia can't really be trusted,' she said. Ukraine's withdrawal from Kursk has sparked renewed fears that Russia could mount an attack on the Ukrainian region of Sumy. It is likely that Kyiv's forces are deliberately holding the border from defensible positions to prevent a complete collapse, allowing their Russian enemy to follow them freely over the frontier. 'The situation is really tense,' Liza Sherstyuk, an aid worker in the Sumy region, told The Telegraph. 'Residents in the city are very anxious, drones are shot down every day. The enemy forces are right on the border of our region... we are constantly asking people if they want to leave but, as of now, nobody does.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
