In a rare public comment that imitated Putin’s propaganda, General Gerasimov painted Russia as a victim of Western aggression without explaining his strategy to neutralize the perceived threat.
In an interview with the Russian newspaper Arguments and Facts, published on January 24, he said, “Today our country and its armed forces are practically against the entire Western group,” adding that NATO is “a hybrid against our country.” They are using Ukraine for war.”
When General Gerasimov sought to overhaul the Russian military, instead of focusing on what the United States had done well, he elevated the irregular warfare tactics he erroneously believed Americans were doing. rice field. As national security expert G. Jones puts it in his book Three Dangerous Men:
As a result, the Russian military acquired expertise in deception and covert tactics, including sending Russian Spetsnaz special forces into Crimea without an insignia before Russia illegally annexed the peninsula in 2014.
But the war in Ukraine required a different kind of operation. An offensive campaign by a number of ground forces operating in different areas with the aim of seizing land. General Gerasimov was ineffective there.
Troops sent to capture Kyiv early in the war lacked even basic supplies and were soon stranded outside the city. Although he did not hone his army’s ability to move many different types of troops by land, air, and sea, his invasion plans depended on it. It was then watered down.
General Gerasimov himself nearly fell victim to his army’s poor planning when he narrowly escaped being killed in a Ukrainian strike during a visit to the army in late April. Thousands of Russians have been killed, prompting Moscow to curtail visits by its leaders to the front.
