Tuesday, June 27, 2023

Russian Ukraine War

 Russian Ukraine War

 These are early reports of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, 2022.  Reading these reports left little doubt that the massive Russian military would soon over-run the smaller and weaker Ukrainian military.

 Just look at the numbers:

 Russia: Pre-invasion total strength: 900,000 military, 554,000 paramilitary

Ukraine: Pre-invasion total strength:196,600 military, 102,000 paramilitary

 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60503037

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine

 But wait a minute!

 So why didn’t the Russians just steamroll the Ukrainians as Putin planned when he invaded?  Obviously, Putin thought that his vaunted military could re-absorb Ukraine back into Mother Russia in a matter of weeks, if not days.  After all, the annexation of Crimea in 2014 only took several days.

 So, what happened?  There are several contemporary and historical reasons.

 Ukrainian troops had been fighting Russian backed separatists in the Donbas region for years, and these troops were battle-hardened.  They were also fighting for their own country on their own land.

 Many of the Russian troops were inexperienced and poorly trained conscripts, who felt that they were fighting fellow Russians.  Not so the brutal Wagner mercenaries who later came in on the side of Russia.

 And one thing that people forget – the fighting ancestry and heritage of the Ukrainian people and their military.  Scythians, Mongols, Cossacks.

 A little history: -

 Early Ukrainians – Horsemen and Fighters

 Scythians, also called Scyth, Saka, and Sacae, a nomadic people, originally of Iranian stock, known from as early as the 9th century BCE who migrated westward from Central Asia to southern Russia and Ukraine in the 8th and 7th centuries BCE. The Scythians founded a rich, powerful empire centered on what is now Crimea. The empire survived for several centuries.

 The Scythians were feared and admired for their prowess in war and, in particular, for their horsemanship. They were among the earliest people to master the art of riding, and their mobility astonished their neighbors.

 The Mongol Empire invaded and conquered Kievan Rus' in the 13th century, destroying numerous cities, including Ryazan, Kolomna, Moscow, Vladimir and Kiev.

 The campaign was heralded by the Battle of the Kalka River in May 1223, which resulted in a Mongol victory over the forces of several Rus' principalities. The Mongols at first, retreated, having gathered their intelligence which was the purpose of the reconnaissance-in-force. A full-scale invasion of Rus' by Batu Khan followed, from 1237 to 1242. The invasion was ended by the Mongol succession process upon the death of Ögedei Khan. All Rus' principalities, including most of Ukraine, were forced to submit to Mongol rule and became vassals of the Golden Horde, some of which lasted until 1480.

 In the 15th century a new martial society—the Cossacks (from the Turkic kazak, meaning “adventurer” or “free man”)—was beginning to evolve in Ukraine’s southern steppe frontier. The term was applied initially to venturesome men who entered the steppe seasonally for hunting, fishing, and the gathering of honey. Their numbers were continually augmented by peasants fleeing serfdom and adventurers from other social strata, including the nobility.

 Banding together for mutual protection, the Cossacks by the mid-16th century had developed a military organization of a peculiarly democratic kind, with a general assembly (rada) as the supreme authority and elected officers, including the commander in chief, or hetman. Their centre was the Sich, an armed camp in the lands of the lower Dnieper “beyond the rapids” (za porohy)—hence, Zaporozhia (in contemporary usage, Zaporizhzhya).

 Note that the Cossacks are mentioned with pride in the Ukrainian national anthem.

 So, independence and prowess in war have always been a feature of the Ukrainian psyche, from Scythian times in the 9th century BCE, to modern times.  Apparently, these are things that Putin forgot when he recklessly invaded Ukraine in February of 2022.

Now, in June, 2023, with nearly universal condemnation of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, and with billions in military and financial support to Ukraine by the West, including $500 billion just announced by the U.S. today, the chances of Ukraine beating Russia back and regaining its territory, including Crimea, increase daily.

 Ray Gruszecki
June 27, 2023

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