Ukraine Is Waging A ‘People’s War’ Against Russia: How Will It End?

Ukraine Expert Not Surprised At All Kyiv Has Initiative on the Battlefield: Dr. Phillip Karber, in an interview recently with our own Defense Editor, Brent Eastwood, predicted before the war that Ukraine would fight valiantly in defense of their country. He also predicted Ukraine would inflict heavy casualties on the Russians. Karber now says that Ukrainian troops are highly motivated and are leading from the front in a “People’s War.”

Karber, who previously visited the front lines in Ukraine 36 times over the last eight years and spent a total of 182 days on the battlefields, is the head of the Potomac Foundation policy institute. 1945s Eastwood interviewed Karber once more for his insights on the current situation in Ukraine.

Are you surprised by how strongly the Ukrainian armed forces have resisted? How much of their success is a result of training by active U.S. forces, NATO, and retired U.S. forces who went to Ukraine to help in the last few years since the Crimea annexation?

NOT surprised at all — and I stressed their commitment and capability in our last interview.

Why have the Ukrainians done so well?

Their commanders have eight years of experience in war, so they have a good appreciation of Russian tactics and operations as well as their own strengths and vulnerabilities.

The war has also weeded out old-style “sit behind the desk” managerial-style officers afraid to take initiative and waiting for top-down guidance. This new generation knows their troops, the terrain, and lead from the front.

The Ukrainians have developed their own version of “mission command.” I have been talking to Ukrainian guys I know: leading the armored brigade fighting at 7 to 1 odds and still holding Chernihiv; the recon company seizing the initiative capturing prisoners at Kharkiv; the marines surrounded at Mariupol; the airborne taking on a full division at Mykolaiv; and alpha professionals who slaughtered the Chechen mercenaries in the suburbs of Kyiv. Any one of those would be considered historic heroic stands.

Because they have not had an abundance of long-range fire support from missiles, fighters or helicopters they have not become as dependent on those higher echelon assets as many Western armies. Likewise, operating against an opponent using extensive electronic warfare and massive suppressive fires, they have learned the hard way, to disperse, employ camouflage and deception.

The troops are intensely motivated — Russian perfidy and brutality have left an indelible scar and there is no more talk about them being “big brothers.” Over and over, you hear the phrase “did we ask them to come here?” and the response of the Snake Island defenders has become the national motto: “go f— yourself.”

This is particularly true in the east among the Russian ethnic troops who have witnessed first-hand the cruelty of Donbas proxies and indiscriminate attacks on civilians. The entire population is outraged and for the first time in 70 years, a Western nation is waging a “People’s War” on its own territory. This support is contagious, and with ordinary citizens arming themselves to help their men in arms, it creates an energizing synergy seldom seen in modern times.

How much of their success is a result of training by US forces, NATO, and retired US forces who went to Ukraine to help in the last few years since the Crimea annexation?

Well, I believe they appreciated the U.S. effort and found value in it.

But to be honest, it had limitations. First, due to American political constraints, our trainers were restricted to the Yavoriv training area, so Ukrainian units had to rotate to them for several weeks of basic infantry training. Many of our trainers told me “we are learning more from them than they’ve from us” and “they have much more experience fighting Russians than we do”.

Second, because of that approach, we only trained a fraction of the units. And third, a lot of the Ukrainian troops that went thru Yavoriv between 2016-2020 returned to civilian life as reservists — so they were not the active guys fighting in the initial battles. The British approach was to have their trainers go to the Ukrainian units and “train the trainers,” which, I believe, was much more effective and lasting. The Lithuanians focused on junior leader training which also seems to have been very effective.

Bottom line — U.S. training was nice to have, but not decisive, and in no way should we try to take credit for the skill, commitment, and raw courage demonstrated by 90 percent of the troops who are fighting that never had the benefit of our training…..

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