The retreat doesn’t address Ukrainian forces’ fundamental failure in the sector around Prohres: a failure of leadership.
Jul 25, 2024
31ST MECHANIZED BRIGADE PHOTO
A day after getting surrounded and cut off by advancing Russian troops just north of the village of Prohres, two battalions of Ukrainian soldiers from the Ukrainian army’s 31st Mechanized Brigade made a hard decision.
Rather than waiting for rescue, the encircled Ukrainians fought their way out on Thursday. The rest of the 31st Mechanized Brigade, along with the nearby 47th Mechanized Brigade, apparently assisted the break-out.
“With the help of coordinated actions of artillery, air reconnaissance and related forces, as well as under the control of officers on the ground, the guys from the 1st and 3rd Battalions were able to break out of the encirclement in full force,” Ukrainian analysis group Deep State reported.
The successful evacuation saved potentially hundreds of Ukrainian troops from death or capture—and deprived the Kremlin of a major propaganda victory. But it doesn’t address Ukrainian forces’ fundamental failure in the sector around Prohres: a failure of leadership.
The Russian advance toward Prohres began last week after Russian warplanes “carried out powerful air strikes on the tactical rear,” according to the Ukrainian Center for Defense Strategies. Amid the confusion, one of the Ukrainian brigades in the sector—possibly the 110th Mechanized Brigade or the 111th Territorial Defense Brigade—collapsed.
To be clear, it wasn’t the brigade’s rank and file who failed—it was their leaders. “The main problem,” Ukrainian correspondent Yuriy Butusov reported, “is primarily in the management and organization of our actions.”
“When a poorly managed crew is attacked, it can’t hold,” Butusov explained.
As Ukrainian troops fled, a clutch of motor rifle regiments from the Russian 1st Army Corps seized the opportunity—and marched four miles to the west in the span of a week, ultimately capturing Prohres and sweeping around those two Ukrainian battalions north of the village.
The surrounded Ukrainians then experienced their own leadership crisis, according to Deep State. “The brigade commander never gave the order to break through, so the personnel who were in that area confronted him with the fact that the boys would break through with a fight.”
That is to say, the encircled Ukrainian troops decided, on their own, to battle their way to the main Ukrainian line hundreds of yards to the west. “This case should be a reminder to many commanders not to neglect personnel and trust the [non-commissioned officers] and officers who are on the direct line of battle,” Deep State commented.
The wider battle continues. After consolidating their control over Prohres, Russian troops also occupied the adjacent village of Vovche. Ukrainian volunteers have been rescuing civilians from the front line while the army redoubles its efforts to halt the Russian advance.
Losses are high on both sides. The elite 47th Mechanized Brigade, the main operator of Ukraine’s best American-made armored vehicles, has lost two of its precious M-1 Abrams tanks around Vovche in just the past three weeks.
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Sources:
1. Deep State: https://t.me/DeepStateUA/19966
2. Yuriy Butusov: https://www.facebook.com/butusov.yuriy/posts/pfbid02bReTHGpWHbw8VWzJSeQfhYdHRLnk1AT1QkgzR2LYzXJQ9CDBnKktiAquFL2KaLcxl
3. @lost_warinua: https://x.com/lost_warinua/status/1816370329037533588; https://x.com/lost_warinua/status/1810001373724827927
In another, previous article by David about this incident, he wrote, “It seems a front-line Ukrainian brigade collapsed amid sector-wide problems with Ukrainian command and control.”
Clearly, the Ukrainian commanders in general are far removed to being the clumsy, moronic, stubborn butchers that their counterparts in the mafia army are. However, they do have incompetence, and this incompetency has great potential to do lots of harm.
This issue should be tackled in the highest places of the AFU command and this as quickly as possible.
Kudos to the ones in these units who chose to tell their commanders to fuck themselves and get the hell out of Dodge.
At any rate, we also have some very poor leadership in the US. Above all is Jake Sullivan and his spineless concept of how to help Ukraine. Biden is a fool for having chosen such a grossly incompetent jellyfish as a security adviser. Sullivan couldn’t manage the security in a bagel shop, much, much less that of the most powerful nation on earth.
Doubtless some commanders have come up short.
But I don’t blame them for this mess. The real blame lies with Trumpkov and his despicable, murderous aid block.
That and the horrible words of Trump and Vance make it almost impossible to believe Mike Pompeo’s WSJ article.
If your unit is being surrounded, you don’t keep them in place unless you have a rock solid reason. It’s bad enough that the AFU constantly gets into cauldrons. I’m not sure why this is so, but staying in place is not the right decision.
It’s really hard to know what Trump is going to do. He has been all over the map on Ukraine. Vance is a complete geopolitical idiot. He says he stands with Israel, but I have serious doubts. The reasons to support Israel are the same as those for supporting Ukraine.
That
‘s what makes it hard to guess what the orange one will do. It’s his fault, though, for sending nothing but mixed signals, although the negative ones are directly from him and the positive ones from other people. So, that’s why it’s better to be skeptical.
Yes, Vance is a geopolitical idiot, and a moron with a few other things.