Stratagems of the Ukrainian and Russian troops in the battles for Kharkiv (February 24 - May 14, 2022)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21847/2411-3093.2023.5(1).281033Keywords:
Military art, stratagems, Ukraine-2022, Russian-Ukrainian war, Defense Forces of Ukraine, Ukrainian Cossacks, KharkivAbstract
Strategies, or military tricks, are a component of military art. They also play an important role in the modern Russian-Ukrainian war. Among the Ukrainian regions, one of the key ones is the Kharkiv region with a powerful administrative center – the city of Kharkiv. Therefore, in February-May 2022, heavy battles took place around Kharkiv. Then the Defense Forces of Ukraine successfully used 8 stratagems, which helped to defeat the Russian invaders and liberate a large area of the Kharkiv Region. Russian troops also tried to use 8 stratagems, but most of them were ineffective. The reason for this was the successful actions of the Ukrainian troops, including the ability to simultaneously use several stratagems, and the miscalculations of the Russian command. It overestimated the potential of Russian troops and underestimated the combat capability of the Defense Forces of Ukraine. During the the stratagems revealing, the author's approach to the definition and analysis of military tricks was used, which was tested in previous studies. The article states that the successful use of the stratagems by Ukrainian troops in 2022 may be a consequence of preserving the heritage of the Ukrainian Cossacks and their descendants. The ability of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to successfully use military tricks in the battles for Kharkiv confirmed the high level of their military art.
References
Allison, R. (2014). Russian “deniable” intervention in Ukraine: how and why Russia broke the rules. International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944-), 90(6), 1255–1297. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24538666
Barros, G., Clark, M., Stepanenko, K. (2022a). Russian offensive campaign assessment, february 28, 2022. https://www.understandingwar.org/-backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-february-28-2022
Barros, G., Kagan, F.W., Stepanenko, K. (2022b). Russian offensive campaign assessmen, may 15. 2022. https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-may-15
Gawęda, M. (2022). Wojna rosyjsko-ukraińska cz. 2. Wojsko i Technika, 4, 12-20 https://shron1.chtyvo.org.ua/Gaweda_Marchin/Wojna_rosyjsko-ukraiska_Cz_2_pol.pdf?PHPSESSID=p111mqj3jaise47l6hkre21u56 (In Poland).
Institute for the Study of War, (2022). Ukraine conflict update 7. 24.02.2022. https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/ukraine-conflict-update-7
Khlon, S., Pahiria, O., Poltorakov, O. (2022). «Skhidna brama derzhavy» Oborona Kharkova (24 liutoho – 14 travnia 2022 r.). URL: https://armyinform.com.ua/wp-content/documents/book4.pdf (In Ukrainian).
Mahda, Ye. (2015). Hibrydna viina: vyzhyty i peremohty. Kharkiv, Vivat (In Ukrainian).
Massicot, D. (2023a). Russian Troops Know How Little They Mean to Putin. The New York Times Feb. 22, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/22/opinion/russia-army-ukraine.html
Massicot, D. (2023b). Russian Military Operations in Ukraine in 2022 and the Year Ahead. https://www.rand.org/pubs/testimonies/CTA2646-1.html
Perrin, C. (2023). 2022 Report – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: implications for alled collective defence and imperatives for the new strategic concept. https://www.nato-pa.int/document/2022-russias-invasion-ukraine-implications-allied-collective-defence-and-imperatives-new
Sabbagch, D., Farrer, M. (2022) 14.05.2022. Ukraine has won the battle of Kharkiv, analysts say, as Kyiv warns of ‘longs phase of war’. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/14/ukraine-has-won-the-battle-of-kharkiv-analysts-say-as-kyiv-warns-of-long-phase-of-war
Seheda, S.P., Shevchuk, V.P. (2019). Hibrydna viina Rosii proty Ukrainy: istorychnyi vymir. Nauka i oborona, 1, 31-35. (In Ukrainian).
Spencer, J. (2022). Ukraine's Position On The Battlefield Is Very Strong. 29.12.2022. URL: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-war-russia-spencer/32198977.html
Tsentr doslidzhen voiennoi istorii Zbroinykh Syl Ukrainy, (2022). Na zakhysti Sumshchyny. Oborona i vyzvolennia Sumshchyny (liutyi – kviten 2022 r.). https://armyinform.com.ua/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/book3.pdf (In Ukrainian).
Zadunaiskyi, V.V. (2006). Boiove mystetstvo ta viiskova spadshchyna ukrainskykh kozakiv v kintsi XIX – na pochatku XXI st. Donetsk, Nord-Pres–DonNU. (In Ukrainian).
Zadunaiskyi, V.V. (2017). Viiskove mystetstvo zaporozhtsiv chasiv Khotynskoi viiny 1621 r. ta yoho analohy v «Mystetstvi Viiny» Sun-Dzy: universalnist i samobutnist. Istorychni i politolohichni doslidzhennia. Donetsk, 1 (62), 17-29. (In Ukrainian).
Zadunaiskyi, V.V. (2018). Kozatski stratehii i stratehemy pid chas kampanii 1649 r. ta yikhni analohy u «Stratehemakh» Seksta Yuliia Frontina. Istorychni i politolohichni doslidzhennia. Vinnytsia, 2 (63), 31-44. (In Ukrainian).
Zadunaiskyi, V.V. (2019). Viiskovi khytroshchi kubanskykh kozakiv pid chas antybilshovytskoho povstannia u Batalpashynskomu viddili vlitku 1918 r. za spohadamy A.H.Shkuro. Viiskovo-naukovyi visnyk. Lviv, 32, 121-134. (In Ukrainian).
Zadunaiskyi, V.V. (2020). Viiskova khytrist «zaskochyty znenatska» v pershykh boiakh makhnovtsiv i kubanskykh kozakiv-povstantsiv u 1918 r. Lituanistyka i wschodoznawstwo, Poznań, Wydział Historii UAM, 359-369. (In Ukrainian).
Zadunaiskyi, V.V. (2021). Spohady F. I. Yelisieieva – dzherelo vyvchennia voiennoho mystetstva kubanskoi kozatskoi kinnoty pid chas antybilshovytskoho povstannia u Kavkazkomu viddili vesnoiu 1918 r. Viiskovo-naukovyi visnyk. Lviv, 35, 125-141. (In Ukrainian).
Zadunaiskyi, V. (2023a). Vymir zastosuvannia kozatskoho boiovoho i voiennoho mystetstva ukrainskymy zbroinymy formuvanniamy v 1917–1920-kh rr.: okremi aspekty. Materialy mizhnarodnoho naukovo-informatsiinoho kruhloho stolu «“KOZATSKYI FAKTOR” u suchasnii rosiisko-ukrainskii viini y dosvid XX st.». Lviv, 10 chervnia 2022 r. Lviv, Vydavnytstvo Ukrainskoho katolytskoho universytetu, 11-21. (In Ukrainian).
Zadunaiskyi. V. (2023b). Vplyv suchasnoi zakhidnoi zbroi na vykorystannia viiskovoi khytrosti «Zaskochyty znenatska» Sylamy oborony Ukrainy pid chas rosiisko-ukrainskoi viiny. Zbroiarnia: istoriia rozvytku ozbroiennia ta viiskovoi tekhniky. III Mizhnarodna naukova konferentsiia. Lviv, 28 liutoho 2023 r.: Zbirnyk tez dopovidei. Lviv, NASV, 65-67. (In Ukrainian).
Zhdanov, O. (2022). Sehodnia Ukrayne nuzhno formyrovat 4 fronta, 28.02.2022. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-p3aVLx_yQ (In Rassian).
Zvernennia Prezydenta Ukrainy Volodymyra Zelenskoho «Liutyi. Rik nezlamnosti». (2023). URL: https://www.president.gov.ua/videos/zvernennya-prezidenta-ukrayini-volodimira-zelenskogo-lyutij-4253 (In Ukrainian).
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Вадим Задунайський
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
1. Authors bear responsibility for the accuracy of facts, quotations, numbers and names used.
2. Manuscripts are not sent back.
3. The publisher does not always agree with the authors' opinion.
4. The authors reserve the right to authorship of the work and pass the first publication right of this work to the journal under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which allows others to freely distribute the published research with the obligatory reference to the authors of the original work and the first publication of the work in this journal.
5. The authors have the right to conclude separate supplement agreements that relate to non-exclusive work distribution in the form in which it has been published by the journal (for example, to upload the work to the online storage of the journal or publish it as part of a monograph), provided that the reference to the first publication of the work in this journal is included.
