Paul Goble
Staunton, June 17 – Most people associate armored trains with the Bolshevik forces during the Russian Civil War, but Moscow used them during World War II, the border conflict with China in the late 1960s, and in Chechnya during both post-Soviet Russian wars there. Now, to the surprise of many, the Russian army is using them in Ukraine.
There are two reasons for this, analysts say. On the one hand, more than most armies, the Russian military tends to keep any weapon that has worked in the past and use it again in the future. And on the other, Russia’s army is more dependent on railroads than are most (apostrophe.ua/article/society/2022-06-18/monstryi-iz-proshlogo-zachem-rossiya-ispolzuet-v-ukraine-bronepoezda/46557).
And because of its dependence on railroads to move weapons and personnel around, the Russian military has to be able to defend itself against partisan attacks on its trains. Such attacks have already occurred in Ukraine, and consequently, the Russian invaders are employing armored trains, both improvised and regular as part of their strategy.
For a discussion of the Russian use of these “monsters of the past, see both the Apostrophe article cited above and a second Apostrophe report concerning successful Ukrainian attacks on Russian armored trains (apostrophe.ua/news/society/accidents/2022-05-18/v-melitopole-vzorvali-bronepoezd-s-rashistami-chto-izvestno/269345).
No comments:
Post a Comment