Staunton, June 5 – There are many
differences between the Russian seizure of Crimea and Russian actions in the
Donbass, but perhaps the most important if sometimes ignored one is this, Pavel
Kazarin says. Crimea was carried out by the regular Russian army, while the Donbass
has been “a classic example of war by outsourcing.”
In an essay for the Krymr.com
portal, the Crimean journalist points out that “Crimea was a special operation
of the [Russian] army. Cadres units, military technology, the fleet and
aviation. Russia’s official military vertical dealt with the annexation of the
peninsula” (ru.krymr.com/a/29271049.html).
“Paramilitary units, Cossacks and
volunteers, were allocated a support role,” Kazarin says; but “if they hadn’t
been there, nothing would have been any different.”
The situation in the Donbass was completely different: it
was “a story about war via outsourcing,” one in which Moscow made use of a
variety of kinds of units, something that allowed it to shift from one to
another depending on conditions and success, the Crimea journalist says.
“War
via outsourcing,” Kazarin says, “is a favorite Hollywood scenario, in the framework
of which all the dirty work is done not by cadres officers but by affiliated
groups. There are fewer risks and constraints, and it offers a clear opportunity
to deny that one is involved.”
But
such units almost never have the capacity that regular forces do; and these
have to be introduced whenever a decisive outcome is desired, as was the case
at Ilovaysk and Debaltsevo.
“Hybrid
war has hybrid tasks,” Kazarin continues. If a cadres army fulfills orders,
then the motives of ‘outsourcing players’ can be extremely varied. Some with the
help of war seek resources; some, closeness to the first person; some, the
settling of old scores. Unlike an army, they solve not only a general task but
a multitude of other separate ones.”
That
must be kept in mind “when we speak about Russian special operations in Ukraine,”
he says. Instead, all too often,
Ukrainian and Western analysts try to find a single purpose behind everything
that is going one and are disappointed when they cannot find one or when there
is no evidence of the kind of planning they expect.
But
the Russian invasion of Ukraine is something where there is not a single motive
but many motives depending on those involved, their resources, and their competencies.
Expecting a single approach is to fall into error. “Leave the James Bond scenarios
to Hollywood. Reality isn’t required to justify our expectations.”
No comments:
Post a Comment