He turned Kiev’s armed forces into a modern army, forcing Putin into a form of war he couldn’t win. Now Valeriy Saluschnyj showed that Kyiv can also win with few troops.
President Zelenskyy is the face of the Ukrainian resistance. Handsome, telegenic, and surrounded by the right PR consultants, he makes appearances every day to influence the mood of the country and, almost more importantly, its supporters. The fight itself is led by a general. And Valeriy Saluschnyj is leading this fight, he has no time for PR appearances.
In the meantime, the general has mastered three phases of the war. First he countered the onslaught of the Russian attack wedges, which were still far superior at the time, and prevented the capital Kyiv and the city of Kharkov from falling into enemy hands.
Successful in three phases
Then he managed to survive the next phase of the Russian invasion, the Donbass offensive. The resistance here seems less glorious, but may have been far more sophisticated than it appears. And finally he achieved a real feat. Although only small forces were available, the bold counterattack east of Kharkov resulted in the Russian front collapsing in this sector and Moscow having to hastily evacuate the occupied regions in this area.
remodeling of the military
Zalushnyyz’s greatest achievement may have taken place before hostilities began, namely building a military capable of such successes. In the years between 2014 and 2022, Ukraine broke away from a military caught in the decline of a post-Soviet torpor.
The military of the USSR was accustomed to a rigid chain of command, to a strong separation of the general staff and the troop officers. In this doctrine, the soldiers, the NCOs, and the officers who directly commanded them were regarded only as instruments of higher command. Own initiative, independent decisions were not planned. This structural deficit was exacerbated by outdated rituals among the soldiers and the generally poorer training of recruits in a conscription army.
Anti-Napoleon-Strategies
Nevertheless, at the time of the Russian invasion, Ukraine was considered hopelessly outnumbered. And if it was also that there was not a defeat in the first week of the war, it is due to Putin’s hubris – but above all to the boldness of Valeriy Saluschnyj. Because he chose the difficult and then certainly unpopular decision not to try to stop the Russians at the border. Because Russia had counted on that, the heavily armored troops of the Kremlin were designed to smash any opponent in open battle. So Zalushny did not offer them this battle. He only stopped them in the suburbs of Kyiv and Kharkov – an environment the Russians were unprepared for. And which immediately revealed the greatest deficiency of their invading army: the lack of soldiers. Because war in urban terrain absorbs troops like a sponge. At the same time, his troops held other cities in the Russian-occupied hinterland.
Now it was not the war of the tank armies that Moscow had hoped for, but the war of the commandos that began. The long supply lines of the Russians were constantly attacked. Moscow suffered constant losses and at the same time was unable to deploy more and more troops, for example near Kyiv, to really cut off the capital. Eventually, Russia had to break off the operations around Kharkov and Kyiv, and the liberation of the previously occupied areas was Zalushny’s first visible success.
His method has already been called the Napoleon strategy. Strictly speaking, one would have to call it Kutuzov’s anti-Napoleon strategy, but since this general was a Russian, the naming is probably not so opportune. Kutuzov realized that he could not defeat Napoleon’s Grande Armee in open battle. If he had had his way, Napoleon could have taken Moscow without a fight. This did not happen, the tsar’s court urged the military to offer the battle of Borodino. It was one of Napoleon’s most difficult victories. But Kutuzov’s idea was different: he denied Napoleon victory. He made himself comfortable in the capital, but the Russian troops cut him off from supplies and attacked the French as soon as they left their permanent positions. When Moscow was also burning, Napoleon had to withdraw. Only a small remnant of the Grande Armee managed to survive the retreat.
No breakthrough for Moscow
After this victory came the most difficult period for Ukraine. Russia focused on the Donbass offensive. Their motto could be translated as “Don’t make mistakes”. Instead of large-scale operations, the Russians relied on the power of their artillery. Village after village, city after city they shot up until only dust was left. Despite all the bunkers and defenses, Kiev’s troops could not permanently hold a position here. They were worn down and continuously pushed back.
This phase was costly and brought no glory. In retrospect, however, it was a success. The stalled resistance meant that the Kremlin was unable to take Donbass. Always managed to hold a new line when a village was lost. Even with a win, Moscow failed to gain momentum in the movement. If one wall fell, Putin’s troops were already in front of the next. By and large, defenders’ morale held up during this period of retreat as well.
And now Sauschnyj delivered his masterpiece: the successful counterattack at Kharkov. Here the general showed a mixture of boldness, cold-bloodedness and toughness that is characteristic of important military personnel and not found on the other side. Operations in the north were covered by a preceding offensive at Cherson in the south. This had been announced for a long time and was also prepared militarily – for example by shelling bridges – in the area. The Russians were therefore warned and moved their reserves in this area. Kyiv was able to make slumps and gains – but also had to accept significant losses. And just when it was admitted that the Cherson offensive had met with little success, if any, the real blow came in the north.
Copy of a Wehrmacht offensive
With comparatively small, lightly motorized forces, the Ukrainians managed to break through the Russian front. Which was only thinly manned by troops of the third line. After the breakthrough, Kiev’s forces continued to advance, not looking for combat, but creating confusion among the occupying forces in the rear. Now it has become clear for the first time how weak Putin’s army really is. The whole space was held by units of the National Guard and the Donetsk Republic. A thin front line alone is not uncommon, but quite evidently the Russians had no strong mechanized reserves in the area to seal off the incursion. Behind the first line was only the rubble of worn-out units that could not be combined into a concentrated counterattack.
What is most astonishing about this attack is that it is a copy of a Wehrmacht operation from the Second Battle of Kharkov that must have been known to every general staff officer in the region. The breakthrough to the river Oskil, then the delayed attack from the south and the swing of the attack group along the river were predictable maneuvers against which the Russians could not find a recipe for lack of reserves.
The counterattack at Kharkov will not decide this war in one battle. But Zalushny showed here that Kyiv can win. Not with an operation, but this operation has ruthlessly exposed the weakness of the Russian army. The bold attack of only about 10,000 men turned an entire sector upside down and liberated over 6000 square kilometers. If more operations of this kind succeed, Moscow will lose the war.