Assessment: Russia’s tactics in modern warfare

Analysis of warfare by Russian forces in Syria and Ukraine shows they resort to scorched earth policy with a focus on civilian infrastructure and housing facilities, for maximum civilian casualties.

Russia takes part in military operations abroad, accompanied by resistance of the locals, as they support the defense forces. That prevents the Russians from gaining advantage on the ground, with no effective control over the territories where their groups are deployed. As a result, the Russians lose the war dramatically over local resistance.

To change the situation, Russia resorts to  massive airstrikes to destroy cities and social infrastructure, to break the resistance, make the life in cities impossible and force the people to leave their homes, which makes it easier for the Russians to capture them.

Having analysed news reports of March 5, however, it is evident that Russians have started blocking the exit of civilians from the cities. In the town of Irpin, they blew up the rails not to let the people be evaluated.  It is likely, therefore, that, according to the latest commands, the Russians are tasked to kill the civilians locally, in towns and cities, which is in line of genocide and refers to crimes against humanity.

Based on the practice of missile and bomb attacks on the cities of Aleppo (Syria), Kharkiv and Sumy (Ukraine), the Kremlin ignores the international conventions and prefers destroying civilians by air strikes, rather than in direct battle with enemy military units. To destroy the cities to the maximum, Russia uses prohibited weapon: cluster munitions and vacuum bombs.