to prepare them for war with Russia, sharing best western practices with his kyiv allies. In this process, the troops have also shared their valuable combat experience. To the point that his troops have impressed and taught to the soldiers who form them.
The Ukrainians, say the Western Allies, “They have much more tactical imagination than us”as stated by Major Maguire, a British military officer who participated in the aforementioned training.
“It’s not that the British armed forces lack imagination. Ukrainian soldiers, out of necessityare willing to take more risks and think innovativelywhile British soldiers, in general, “have a more rules-focused training mentality,” he explained.
For example, he observed it firsthand during the planning of an ambush. Maguire commented that he was “sticky to our ambush doctrine”which includes an attack group and groups designed to cut off the escape of any soldier or the arrival of reinforcements. The Ukrainian soldiers he was with “snuck away and planned this for six hours.” Then, “they presented the most tactically brilliant plan I could imagine”. The plan used the terrain in ways he had not considered. They were “a lot more flexible and they felt more comfortable after abandoning the doctrine,” he said.
Maguire told the aforementioned media that the Ukrainian officer corps, in particular, is “less indoctrinated than ours,” referring to that of London. He described them as civilians who have rebelled, “and They are not so limited by the rules of military behavior“. It is something that was seen in the early days of Russia’s “special military operation”, which, and continues to be seen, after all that time.
Ukrainian soldiers do things differently. And he gives examples. For starters, they are not as attached to established doctrine and instead “feel much more comfortable assuming tactical risks and, consequently, they are able to show a little more imagination. Not all, but certainly the best can and did.”
Maguire shared with him BI that the Ukrainians “were much more comfortable taking tactical risks than we, as a British Army, we would not takebecause we would be concerned about control measures. And I think that’s just out of necessity. They understand it. “They are clear about their objective.”
“They feel much more comfortable taking tactical risks and, consequently, are able to show a little more imagination”
The United Kingdom, to a certain extent, is limited by remaining in the training phase. That being said, things are changing. Maguire claimed that the British mindset before the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022 was more focused on “tactical security”. “The Ukrainian mentality is very different,” he said.
Now the mentality of the British Army has changed, too. However, a key question is whether the change is fast enough. Maguire wasn’t sure. But one important change he sees is that soldiers go into action with a clearer understanding that they could to die in the performance of his duty.
Mutual learning
Maguire led a subgroup that trained Ukrainian soldiers who already had battlefield experience. The training was carried out through the UK-led training program with support from 13 partner nations including Canada, Australia and Denmark. This training also trains new Ukrainian recruits with no combat experience, and in total the program has trained more than 62,000 Ukrainians.
These experienced soldiers possess experience that the Western soldiers who train them lack. The United Kingdom and its allies have not fought a large-scale industrial war in decades and are studying Ukraine to adapt.
Maguire said that training Ukrainians with previous experience was intimidating for Western instructors, but there was still a valuable exchange of knowledge for both sides. Everyone learns.
“The United Kingdom He has learned a lot by observing war and supporting Ukraine, especially in areas such as drone warfare, where British units have turned to small drone combat tactics derived from the war. He exchange has also been revealing in other ways“, he declares in the interview.
Maguire also commented that the trainers were initially surprised by how slowly the Ukrainians moved in combat. What was initially perceived as true lazinesswas recognized as a successful strategy on a battlefield full of traps. Ukrainians have “a greater understanding of what it takes to win: unwavering determination,” he concludes.
