The press service of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the eve spread a message that the command and staff exercises under the single name "Spring Thunder - 2016" have begun. The exercises were announced under the following "slogan": "the next stage of preparation of Ukrainian units and formations for a probable enemy invasion" and "adequate response to external threats."
Again we are dealing with typical Maidan logic. According to this "logic", the Ukrainian army is only preparing for the "enemy invasion", taking into account the fact that, according to numerous statements by representatives of the command of this very army, "the enemy's invasion has already taken place." If "the invasion has already taken place," then what the hell are they preparing for? If there is no "invasion", and it is only expected, then this is another fact that the statements of the Ukrainian "river workers (speakers) of the ATO" are worthless. The fact, of which there are hundreds …
Apparently, in Ukraine itself, such "logical" tricks of the command no longer raise questions. It has been said - "prepare for an invasion in the presence of an invasion", which means that it is so …
If you try to delve deeper into the Maidan logic of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense (what to do, as you yourself understand, is unsafe for mental health), then you can find out the interesting nuances of the exercises being conducted on the territory of the field. The fact is that “preparation for the invasion” is only a bright (practically “Roshen's” wrapper), and under the wrapping it is an attempt to demonstrate to the NATO curators, who are present in abundance during the Ukrainian maneuvers, that the Ukrainian armed forces are switching to North Atlantic military standards. Artillery installations, armored vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles are involved in the exercises from military equipment.
From the statement of the official representative of the press service of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine:
An important feature of military exercises is the conduct of all activities in new organizational and staff structures, adapted to NATO standards, to which the country's armed forces are being transferred during the reform.
Particular attention during the exercise, as stated in the press service, will be given to issues of territorial defense and the movement of troops.
It is worth recalling that earlier the Ukrainian command, after numerous attempts to understand the reasons for the defeat of the army near Ilovaisk and Debaltseve, came to the conclusion that the main reason lies in the low mobility of units. If we translate from the language of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine into human, then the Ukrainian army could have resisted if reinforcements had arrived in time. But reinforcements did not arrive somewhere in connection with the delay in receiving the order (orders were stalled somewhere in the Kiev saunas, removed by the generals …), somewhere in connection with outright attempts to ignore orders. After all, it was in the Ukrainian media that the boilers were proudly called "bridgeheads", but the Ukrainian military saw with their own eyes that to keep up with such "bridgeheads" is only to add new "meat" to the boilers.
Now the overseas curators, apparently, decided to teach the Ukrainian military how to quickly and efficiently transfer individual units to those directions from which the most tangible threat emanates. In general, "Spring Thunder - 2016" can be called exercises with the main idea "What should be done in order not to get shocked like near Ilovaisk and Debaltseve?" The idea for the Ukrainian army is undoubtedly overdue, if not overripe, but it is one thing to switch to NATO standards in the press releases of the Ministry of Defense, and it is one thing to receive instructions from American instructors, and quite another thing to put all this into practice.
In practice, the Ukrainian army is still all the same: a) the adjustment of military equipment to the contact line in violation of the Minsk agreements that had already ordered a long life (Kiev transferred several more tanks to Avdiivka the day before), b) shelling from various types of weapons on the territory of the DPR (the most intense shelling in the Yasinovataya area) with a clear provocation of active actions by the army of the People's Republic. There is, in principle, no tactics, the strategy is also not visible - blunt sprinkling with mines and shells of different calibers and the Maidan OR on Facebook. - It's all…
It is clear that looking at this, even overseas curators in the lexicon run out of literary and non-literary words. That is why the overseas curators are making another attempt to teach the Ukrainian army coherence (not from the word "screw up"). The next format is "Spring Thunder-2016", as a result of which the Pentagon, apparently, hopes to get those military formations that will be really ready to adhere to clear tactical schemes that allow not just spending ammunition and not just catching a "lead" response.
And after all, the stubbornness of the American "friends of Ukraine" can be envied … In many ways, this stubbornness in attempts to train the Ukrainian army in military affairs is reminiscent of attempts to do the same with the Georgian army in 2007-2008. And, if in truth, then South Ossetia, and now the DPR and LPR are lucky that the Pentagon students in uniform with big stars are much more concerned about the issues of personal enrichment from the funds allocated for the exercises, rather than full-fledged training with simultaneous working off tactical schemes by personnel.
Apparently, in order to demonstrate to the overseas curators that "the process has started", the President of Ukraine, being in the "ATO zone", announced the appointment of a new commander of the Ground Forces of Ukraine. It was Lieutenant General Sergei Popko. Particularly noteworthy are the words of the president of the deposit, addressed to the general.
From Poroshenko's statement:
Please remember that it is you who bear the triple responsibility for the fate of the country, for the effective use of subordinate troops to defend the Motherland, for the life of every soldier, every citizen of our state.
Why does this responsibility lie “precisely” with Popko, and not with the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Mr. Poroshenko? - Mr. Poroshenko did not explain to Lieutenant General Popko, or to the leadership of the Control Center "in the ATO zone", to whom the General was introduced …
In general, judging by the launched Ukrainian exercises against the background of a change in the leading military circles, it can be stated that there is no question of any (even hypothetical) process of a peaceful settlement in Donbass on the part of Kiev. Kiev has a desire to curry favor with NATO in order to show that Ukraine deserves to become another member of this military bloc. What acts can be entrusted to such a member? - while even the NATO "partners" of Ukraine are scratching their heads, calling on the Ukrainian army to rattle something at least at "Spring Thunder - 2016" …
