It is one month since Russia started its “special operation” in Ukraine and they appear to be no nearer to taking Kyiv than they were 30 days ago. The feared Russian army appears to have been stopped in its tracks. That old saying that one person defending their own homeland is more powerful than ten hired guns certainly rings true.
The Ukrainian army is showing incredible courage and skill battling what must be one of the most formidable armies in the world with little more than a few “donated” weapons. Another formidable army backed by NATO allies in Afghanistan was unable to defeat the Taliban. The Soviets suffered the same fate when they tried to take over Afghanistan. There are many lessons to be learnt from Ukraine and also Afghanistan.
The days of heavy tanks, armoured vehicles and heavily armed helicopters appear to be over. The Ukrainians are making great use of Turkish designed drones and also Western supplied anti-tank weapons. There has been a debate in Britain whether defence spending should be increased and more tanks purchased.
There was even talk of increasing the size of the army. Russia has plenty of troops and plenty of tanks and they are losing in Ukraine. Modern warfare has changed. So before the West embarks on a major defence spending programme they should take note of what is happening in Ukraine and what happened in Afghanistan. The Ukrainian warriors are busy rewriting the modern defence rule book.