It has been almost two weeks since Russia invaded Ukraine, but Moscow is
said to have made little progress. This fact was due to the fierce
resistance of the Kiev troops and a number of other reasons such as the
solidarity of the people.
Observers say Ukraine's performance against the Russian army was driven by a
combination of good preparation, national solidarity and Moscow's own
mistakes.
One senior French military officer said differently. According to him,
Russia is not moving too fast.
"At some point they have to realign but that's not a sign of failure," he
said.
So far, there is no sign that the war will end as Russian President Vladimir
Putin has repeatedly insisted that nothing can get in the way of his goals.
Here are five reasons Ukraine was able to stop Russia's advance, according
to AFP.
1. Preparation
Ukraine, with Western help, has strengthened its armed forces after Russia
annexed Crimea in 2014.
Two years later, in 2016, NATO and Kiev began a training program for
Ukrainian special forces, now numbering 2,000. They have also helped
civilian volunteers.
"Ukrainians have spent the last eight years planning, training and equipping
themselves to resist the Russian occupation," said an assistant professor at
Georgetown University, Douglas London.
Moreover, Ukraine realized that the United States and NATO would not come to
their rescue on the battlefield. So the focus of their strategy is fighting
with Moscow.
"As such, Russia cannot continue to maintain its occupation," wrote the CIA
veteran, in the international relations journal Foreign Affairs.
2. Local Knowledge
Russia appears to have underestimated the internal territorial advantages of
Ukrainian forces, including knowledge of the battlefield and the capacity of
the local population to take up arms against the invasion.
In such an irregular war scenario, the weaker troops could maximize the
advantage they had over their stronger opponent.
Many say that Ukraine is not a comparable opponent to Russia. But they also
did not expect the fight to be so fierce.
"The advantages of terrain, local knowledge and social connections," says
Spencer Meredith, professor in the College of International Security
Affairs.
The challenge will be greatly increased if fighting in urban areas develops,
and if Russia continues to penetrate cities like Kiev.
"It changes everything. Russia will be in trouble on every street corner,
building after building," said one French military source who asked not to
be named.
3. National Solidarity
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, chose to stay in Kiev despite
his security threat. However, this actually helped foster national
solidarity as Russia continued to lay siege to the country.
Ukraine has shown its resilience in the face of adversity.
This is also reflected when many civilians have volunteered to be on the
front lines against Russia, after making sure their families are safe for
the border.
Photos circulating on social media show people making Molotov cocktails, or
farmers stealing Russian military tanks.
"(Ukraine has) no choice but to further increase its war capacity with rapid
training of territorial troops and use of light weapons," said retired
French colonel Michel Goya.
4. Russia Wrong Strategy
Another factor that could have made Ukraine repel the Russian movement was
due to a strategic mistake at the start of the invasion.
According to military observers, Russia sent too few ground troops in the
initial phase and failed to get the ground and air forces to cooperate.
Moscow hopes to reach the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, within days.
"Initially they thought they could introduce the unit very quickly to the
capital Kiev. But from the start they had a bloodbath," explains Michael
Kofman, director of the Russian Studies Program at the Center for Naval
Analysis in the US.
Kofman then said, "The assumptions are ridiculous. How did you manage to
take Kiev in three days? The Russian military has now adapted and is trying
to do this as a joint arms operation."
5. Psychological Fear
Russia has sounded the alarm bell around the world by guarding tens of
thousands of troops deployed near Ukraine's borders over the past few weeks.
However, it is possible that few knew that they would be sent to fight in a
neighboring country whose inhabitants were fellow Slavs and many spoke
Russian as their mother tongue.
The morale of the Moscow troops would not soar even if there were many
casualties on their side including one general who died.
In addition, Ukraine's so-called 'gentle' attitude in dealing with Russian
prisoners was also a trigger. But they could be tough if Moscow attacked
blindly.
Brookings Institution analyst Tom Pepinsky said evidence so far suggests
Ukraine's treatment of Russian prisoners of war could become tougher as
Moscow pushes more and more into the country.
"Ukrainian resistance will be most effective if Russia is restless,
sleepless and prone to overreacting," he said.
