Commonalities In Russian Military Operations In Urban Environments

By Major Dale R. Smith

Despite the drastic evolution of warfare since the close of World War II fighting in urban environments has remained a constant. Despite the advances in modern warfare the tactics, techniques and procedures developed for urban combat operations remain largely unchanged. As the sole remaining superpower, The United States will likely find itself increasingly drawn into urban operations to perform stability and peacekeeping operations. In doing so it advantage in technology will be significantly reduced. By conducting a study of the Russian operations in Chechnya and comparing it to operations in Stalingrad some enduring traits began to emerge. These traits are significant for the unit wanting to understand how urban operations manifest unforeseen problems. More importantly, as many third world countries have been trained or have studied under Russian doctrine they may exhibit similar methodologies. The analysis contains more than a historical and tactical account of the actions. It attempts to identify the underlying themes that drive the history.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Verdun Press
• Release date: Aug 15, 2014
• ISBN: 9781782895824

Major Dale R. Smith

See Book Description

Book preview

 This edition is published by PICKLE PARTNERS PUBLISHING—www.picklepartnerspublishing.com

To join our mailing list for new titles or for issues with our books – [e-mail]

Or on Facebook

Text originally published in 2003 under the same title.

© Pickle Partners Publishing 2014, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

Publisher’s Note

Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

COMMONALITIES IN RUSSIAN MILITARY OPERATIONS

IN URBAN ENVIRONMENTS

by

DALE R. SMITH, MAJ, USA

B.A., University of Akron, Ohio, 1991

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

ABSTRACT 5

CHAPTER 1 — INTRODUCTION 6

CHAPTER 2 — ANALYSIS OF STALINGRAD 9

Background 9

Excessive Force 11

Casualties 14

Collateral Damage 16

Conclusion 17

CHAPTER 3 — ANALYSIS OF CHECHNYA 19

Background 19

Excessive Force 22

Casualties 25

Collateral Damage 28

Conclusion 30

CHAPTER 4 — ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSION 31

APPENDIX A — SKETCH OF STALINGRAD 35

APPENDIX-B — STALINGRAD FROM THE EASTERN SHORES OF THE VOLGA RIVER 36

APPENDIX-C — SKETCH OF GROZNY 37

APPENDIX-D — TACTICAL APPROACH TO GROZNY 38

APPENDIX-E — IMAGERY GROZNY BEFORE (ABOVE) AND AFTER (BELOW)  THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE 39

BIBLIOGRAPHY 40

ABSTRACT

COMMONALITIES IN RUSSIAN MILITARY OPERATIONS IN URBAN ENVIRONMENTS, by MAJ Dale R. Smith.

Despite the drastic evolution of warfare since the close of World War II fighting in urban environments has remained a constant. Despite the advances in modern warfare the tactics, techniques and procedures developed for urban combat operations remain largely unchanged. As the sole remaining superpower, The United States will likely find itself increasingly drawn into urban operations to perform stability and peacekeeping operations. In doing so it advantage in technology will be significantly reduced. By conducting a study of the Russian operations in Chechnya and comparing it to operations in Stalingrad some enduring traits began to emerge. These traits are significant for the unit wanting to understand how urban operations manifest unforeseen problems. More importantly, as many third world countries have been trained or have studied under Russian doctrine they may exhibit similar methodologies. The analysis contains more than a historical and tactical account of the actions. It attempts to identify the underlying themes that drive the history.

CHAPTER 1 — INTRODUCTION

It has been said that cities bring out the worst in armies and armies bring out the worst in cities.{1} For Russians conducting operations in urban environments this statement could be no truer. During WWII Russia conducted urban operations in almost every major city from Moscow to Berlin. In more recent years they have been involved in operation in Afghanistan and Chechnya. In Russia’s vast experiences in urban operations can it be assumed that major commonalities or an underlying culture exists that identifies the Russian military way of conducting urban operations? Based on an examination of the Battle of Stalingrad and the conflict in Chechnya, it appears that there are.

Over the past fifty years, despite the type or scale of operation, the Russian approach to urban operations has been characterized by a consistent manifestation of three things; massive use of force, massive collateral damage, and an acceptance of massive casualties. The Russian identification with mass is so strong it can be considered part of their military culture and for this paper these three terms used together represent the culture of mass. When it comes to urban operations, they do it in a big way.

The Russian meaning of mass should not be conceptually confused with the American definition. FM 3.0 defines mass as something commanders do to "concentrate the effects of combat power at the decisive place and