Armies of Russia's War in Ukraine

Osprey Elite #228

by Mark Galeotti, Johnny Shumate (Illustrations)

Illustrated investigation of the forces fighting today's civil war in Ukraine, including Russian regular and clandestine units.

Using his extensive contacts in both Russia and Ukraine, and access to a mass of official and unofficial sources, Mark Galeotti presents a thorough and intriguing primer on all the forces involved in the ongoing conflict in the Ukraine. Supported by specially commissioned artwork, he analyzes both the progress of the war, and what it teaches us about Russia's current military capabilities.

In February 2014, street protests in Kiev and other Ukrainian cities led to the ousting of the Russian-backed President Yanukovych. The so-called Euromaidan Revolution saw many changes to the Ukraine's constitution, but the violent reaction in the east and south of the country led to armed counter-revolution, unofficially backed by Russia.

This conflict is the essential example of Russia's new policy of "hybrid warfare", which blends propaganda, misinformation, and the deployment of "deniable" Special Forces and regular troops alongside proxies and mercenaries to achieve its strategic ends.

Genres: Russia, History, Ukraine, Military Fiction, War, Politics, Nonfiction

64 pages, Paperback

First published June 18, 2019

Reviews

[Joe]

Nice little summary of the Ukrainian-Russian wars

This short book explains the order of battle, uniforms and equipment plus some of the politics of the Ukrainian-Russian Wars. It’s so obvious Russia is just using separatists as puppets to smack Ukraine around with, up to and including giving them rocket artillery to fire on Russian command. Ukraine has also considered the cost of pushing the Russians out as too high.

[Zare]

Very interesting book on armies that clashed in the fields of Ukraine in last 4 years. As is always case with Osprey all details are in, text is clear, short and concise and accompanied with the great number of photos and drawings. All parties are presented - official armies of Ukraine and Russia and numerous militia and paramilitaries.

This is not an ultimate source but excellent entry point book for anyone interested in Ukrainian conflict.

Which brings me to the elements that I wont say I did not like, I appreciate them, but author has lot of negative bias towards Russians in general. All militias associated with the Russians are generally criminals, incompetent, robbers and pillagers. Their opposites, militias fighting on the side of Ukraine are good, competent, brave ("cyborgs") with some that have shown some tendency towards criminal activities but are good guys.

When it comes to civil wars picture is never black-and-white (just remember KLA that had almost fanatical support from the West in 1999 but was very very quickly abandoned by everyone after details of criminal activities surfaced) and I do not understand authors who fall into this trap - you are passionate that is good but keep your bias under control and present the facts - from both sides, with details, pictures but don't get into talk of angels-vs-devils.

Ukraine, as is case with unfortunately large part of Eastern Europe during "globalization" is area where corruption and criminal activities flourish whether we like it or not. And these are not due to some politicians from some country wants that - it is because criminal groups are running those politicians and unfortunately crime is international and above and beyond the politics.

And when disaster hits like it did in Ukraine's east to say all the devils are ran from the opposition is silly and naive.

In any case good book [with note on the above comments], and good starting point for anyone interested in this conflict.

[Steven M.]

Quick but concise review of the conflicts the Ukraine has faced since independence.

Great overview of the events leading to the current crisis. With enough detail to keep my interest. Well illustrated and laid out.

[Jimmy]

How does the modern post-Soviet Russian military operate? I think after February 25th, 2022 this question might seem more relevant to many with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This book for sixty four pages is jam pack with information and the author’s familiarity of the Russian Federation’s army and its history was very helpful for me as I read it, and I imagine many like myself are starving to understand more Russia’s operational capability of its Army. The author Mark Galeotti has written on the Russian army before this book and he’s pretty knowledgeable of the post-Soviet Russian army from my reading of his previous work. This particular title was published in 2019 it was printed in a time where there is less partisan disagreement about Russia and Ukraine that was very pronounced in 2022.
After the introduction there is a chapter on the history of Russia taking over Crimea. Due to Russia's success with Crimea that lead Russia to start a war in Donbas, which is the topic of the second chapter. The third chapter covered the rebels against the Ukranian national government, with discussions about various militia leaders and the militias themselves including the Donetsk's People's Militia, the Luhansk's People's Militia, etc. Chapter three and four cover the Russian regular forces and the Ukrainian regular forces. Chapter five is on Ukrainian militias and chapter six are words about the future.
I think no matter side you land on with this conflict there’s a lot of good facts and figures militarily that’s given. I also thought there’s interesting information of some of the early militants that fought against Ukraine. It seems many of them were assassinated by their Russian handlers. War is a brutal thing. The book had quite an amount of photos of Russian forces in Ukraine in the war at Donbass and the author was able to identify very specifically which Russian units they were; that was fascinating. Reading this one can’t help but to wonder how this conflict blew into an all-out total war with how this conflict have been brewing for years. I think this book is essential background information for those who want to know more about the conflict including operational details.

[James Crabtree]

This book looks at the Russian efforts to seize the Crimea and to use the Donetsk and Luhansk republics as leverage against the Ukraine. The first operation, aided as it was by criminals and sympathizers, resulted in the seizure of a peninsula that is internationally considered a part of the Ukraine (except when it was administered by the Russian Federated Soviet Socialist Republic, but when you all live under communism the name of the particular slave labor camp you happen to be in doesn't really matter that much) . The Russian attempt to do the same thing in the Donbass region has been less successful for them, since the militia they sponsored has been met by Ukrainian militia and conventional forces. The progress of the war to date has been captured very well by the author and illustrated by maps, photographs and original artwork. Indeed, I would consider this a five-star product, except the author decided to take a jab at U.S. President Donald Trump by mentioning Putin's efforts to, and I quote, "Make Russia Great Again." This was irrelevant to a discussion of the conflict. A more useful discussion could have been had by discussing the world leadership vacuum created by the Obama administration which allowed Russia to keep the Crimea. Facts should be discussed in these books, not politics which are unconnected to the history discussed.