Ukraine has been at war during a year. Leaders of political and law enforcement bodies of the country haven’t taken any actions to remove disadvantages, criminal gaps in organization of the fight for independence of our state. Aleksandr Zubkov told us what is necessary to do to return Donbass.
Organization of guerrilla resistance movement against invaders in 1941
Recently I’ve found a book “Helping a guerilla” written by A. Afanasiev, published by Voenizdat NKO USSR in 1942. The main goal of guerilla and underground movement on occupied territories was written there on first pages: “Create unbearable conditions for enemy, for occupant!”. The next goal was: “Keep in touch with local population! Waken a guerilla war!
Every scholar or expert has no doubts in efficiency of underground, guerilla resistance on territories of the USSR, which were occupied by Nazi Germany and its allies during the Second World War. It makes such experience useful for Ukraine today.
What is important?
At first, this struggle started spontaneously and only afterwards it was coordinated by military authorities of the country. Every forth guerilla was trained on the “mainland” and worked to unite people, gather and train local patriots.
At second, organization of resistance started not right after the occupation.
At third, the most important condition of successful resistance was a struggle for minds and hearts of people in occupied territories.
Support of the struggle for return of captured territories from the side of local population is one of the most important conditions for successful realization of this goal.
Realities of organization of underground resistance by separatists and Russian occupants in 2014-2015
Unfortunately, we have to state, that Ukrainian government hasn’t organized mass systematic resistance movement in the enemy’s rear for 14 months of military confrontation with armed groups of separatists and Russian soldiers. Ukrainian authorities haven’t taken actions to organize information and social struggle for pro-Ukrainian “mood” among the majority of population of occupied territories.
Fighters of illegal armed groups and Russian soldiers feel themselves with impunity and self-confidence on Ukrainian land. Unbearable conditions are created not for occupants and separatists, but for residents of occupied regions, who became prisoners of the situation.
Special operations are still just on the start. If we’ll try to draw analogy with soviet resistance to Nazi invasion in 1941, we’ll see that during the same period of occupation thousands of patriots were involved into active guerilla resistance. There were even less resources to organize massive underground movement in Soviet Union compared to nowadays Ukraine, but after a month or two of occupation there have been first outcomes.
Information space of so-called “LPR” and “DPR” has been absolutely lost, presented to Russian and separatists anti-Ukrainian propaganda. Ukrainian authorities don’t try to organize broadcasting on occupied territories. There is no Ukrainian broadcasting even on territories of Luhansk and Donetsk regions released from separatists’ groups. Ukraine received retransmitters from Poland and Lithuania months ago. It is interesting if Ukrainian authorities are going to fight for information space of the Donbass at all. Who is responsible for this situation?
I’ll repeat – it is impossible to organize effective struggle for occupied territories, establish underground resistance movement on occupied territories without synchronous information impact on population of those territories.
Ineffective, corruptive system of permits to occupied territories moves population of pseudo republics even further away from Ukraine.
Russian subversive captured near Shchastya had details of almost 10 locations of reconnaissance groups in the Ukrainian rear. Terrorists and subversives easily pass check points. They know “prices” for fast permits and use them. Why does this dangerous system still work? It is even easier to get to Russia – an aggressor state. It is nonsense!
Policy of loads delivery to occupied territories has been not discussed yet. Economical blockade caused a massive corruption on check points, closer relations between law enforcement officials on check points and bribe takers among separatists, transformation of occupied regions into a market of Russian goods and its economical alienation from Ukraine.
Not once our leaders have raised a topic on highest state level about organization of Ukrainian centers of humanitarian aid on occupied territories within arrangement of the conflict according to the Minsk agreements. Ukraine, international community and even separatists defined that as a priority in the conflict arrangement. From the other side, it can show local population that our country hasn’t forgotten them.
Our government has also a strange attitude towards those residents of occupied territories, who took up arms in order to implement goals in the enemy’s rear, which were not reached by military command of Ukraine. Case of “Ravliki” guerillas is a litmus paper in this question. This case will show whether the government seeks to restore territorial integrity and independence of the country, wants to fight separatism or will persecute those people, who are trying to fight occupants in the enemy’s rear and show patriotism without permission of military or police officials on the other side of demarcation line.
Difficulties in such questions occur because of slowness of highest military authorities in questions of organization of underground resistance on occupied territories from one side. From the other side the reason is slowness of political leaders in determination of legal status of guerillas, who are not part of National Guard or AFU, who started armed struggle against separatists and invaders beyond the front line “ahead of time”. According to Che Guevara, each underground group develops its special tactic of struggle against the enemy, which is different from warfare of armed forces – and it is the third reason.
Ukrainian General Staff has “manual” feudal administrative system.
Such system is too centralized and doesn’t stand independence; it lacks personal responsibility, modern regulations and norms. This system is inefficient in any dynamic environment and comes to loss of control in case of sudden attack or maneuver of the enemy, when it is necessary to change disposition. This system is also ineffective in attacking. Its disadvantages levels only in slow trench war.
A normative for retaliatory actions to eliminate break of defense by enemy’s subversive-terrorist detachment is 15 minutes! It is not two weeks as in Illovaysk, nor a few days as in Debaltsevo – but few minutes!
Guerilla units need relative autonomy – secrecy, unexpectedness, independence in planning and realization of operations. Army special units of armed forces of the Soviet Union operate according to this principle in Afghanistan. Modzhahidy recognized its actions as the most effective. Number of officers in the special unit during the war reached 5 000 people (it was 240 people in the beginning).
The fact that leaders of political and military bodies of Ukraine don’t take effective actions to remove disadvantages, criminal gaps in organization of struggle for sovereignty of the country and to strengthen armed forces; don’t try to organize information war for hearts and minds of residents of Luhansk and Donetsk regions – arouse perplexity and bitterness, first of all for those people, who feel themselves patriots of Ukraine and who see Donbass as a small Motherland.
Aleksandr Zubkov for the Informator.lg.ua