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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