David Kirichenko
Successful generalship is harder to identify than it appears; even the greatest commanders face critics in their own age, which often continues even after they are dead. Principled and decisive officers are easier to spot, and Ukraine certainly has one of those in Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi.
When Russia struck an army training center on June 1, killing and wounding more than 70 men, he resigned, saying he had worked for “an army in which commanders are personally responsible for people’s lives. An army where no one is responsible for a defeat is dying from within.”
The decision stunned many Ukrainians, and not just because of Drapatyi’s seniority — he was ground forces commander. The highly decorated 42-year-old is the standard-bearer for a younger generation of army officers who joined the military after Ukraine’s independence and have spent most of their careers fighting Russians. Just 48 hours later, on June 3, a government possibly embarrassed by the fuss and aware of his popularity reappointed him to the lesser but more combat-focused role of joint forces commander.
The turmoil has led to questions once again about the division between the new leaders and an older generation, including commander-in-chief General Oleksandr Syrskyi, who, like many other senior officers, was Soviet-trained. Relations between Syrskyi and Drapatyi are said to be poor, with each taking an opposed position on how to fight the war.
But the strains are more than personal. The point was underlined in May when Major Oleksandr Shyrshyn, commander of 47 Separate Mechanized Brigade, gave a televised interview criticizing the way the army was fighting, and the often needless casualties he said were suffered. He blamed “clueless generalship” and “stupid missions” given to his unit during the fighting in Kursk.
No comments:
Post a Comment