Ukrainian cities such as Kyiv, Kherson, Kharkiv and Mariupol have become the primary battleground for the Russian offensive. It is the attacks on these urban cities that has seized the attention of the world
A damaged car sits at the central square following shelling of the City Hall building in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP
Russia has taken control of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, as Moscow’s invasion of the pro-Western country entered its seventh day. Its forces have also landed in Ukraine’s second-biggest city, Kharkiv, and triggered immediate clashes.
High-rise civilian buildings and TV towers are being brought down by Russian forces — in scenes that haven’t been seen in a populous European metropolis since World War II.
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Experts have pointed out that the military action by the Russian troops in the cities of Ukraine is unprecedented but not something we haven’t witnessed in wars before. This practice of urban combat is frightful and the situation in Ukraine will only become fiercer in the days to come.
In fact, Colonel John Spencer, an expert on urban combat, wrote a detailed Twitter thread on Saturday offering advice on how Ukrainians might resist an attack on their cities.
But, what exactly is urban combat? When was it first used? What are other examples of it? And why Russia could be bruised by it?
We try to answer these questions and more:
Defining urban warfare
Simply put, urban warfare is combat conducted in urban areas such as towns and cities. Urban combat differs from combat in the open at both the operational and the tactical levels.
The Modern War Institute explaining the practice says it is a very specific type of military operation. This kind of attack is a mission to either kill or capture all hostile forces (an enemy-based mission) in a city or to seize, secure, recapture, or liberate (a terrain-based mission) a city or portion of a city when the enemy is using it as a defensive zone. The city attack operation usually requires a penetration of enemy defenses.
Colonel John Spencer maintains this type of fighting is “catastrophic” to all parties. “It’s the toughest environment you could ask the military to fight in,” he explained on the fourth day of Russia’s offensive.
In his recent book on urban warfare, British scholar Anthony King wrote that “urban combat has become a central, maybe even defining form of warfare in the 21st Century. In the 20th Century, armies prepared to fight in the field. Today, it seems all but inevitable that they will fight in cities.”
Past instances of urban warfare
The Battle of Monterrey was the US Army’s first major encounter with urban warfare. It occurred in September 1846 when the US Army under Zachary Taylor invaded the town. The Mexicans hid on rooftops and shot at the US troops in the middle of the city’s streets.
Urban warfare was also seen in World War II. In 1942, during the Battle of Stalingrad, Russian troops held a single four-storey apartment complex overlooking a large square for 58 days, fending off countless German infantry and mechanised attacks.
In recent times, urban warfare has played out in cities such as Aleppo, Mosul, and Sana’a to Marawi, Mogadishu.
These examples leave little room for doubt that towns and cities will remain primary battlegrounds for future armed conflicts.
Damascus, Aleppo, Raqqa, Palmyra and Homs were destroyed by intense urban battles, their inhabitants killed, maimed, and displaced. War in these cities has left deep scars on the social fabric of affected communities and robbed entire generations of their youth.
Over the last decades there has also been a resurgence of urban warfare in West Asia and beyond, with an estimated 50 million people around the world bearing the brunt of it.
Why urban warfare is adopted
There are many benefits to adopting urban warfare. Firstly, cities have strategic value. Also, more people live in urban areas rather than rural settings, a proportion that is expected to increase to 68 per cent by 2050.
Secondly, and more importantly, the physical and human terrain of a city can offer advantages to the defender and mitigate the technological superiority of a more powerful opponent. Attackers may also try to pin defenders down in a city to prevent their escape, or resort to siege warfare.
What’s going on in Ukraine?
Russia has been using artillery, rockets, thermobaric weapons, and kept ground forces to a minimum. It doesn’t want to be sucked into urban combat, which has the unique ability to absorb massive numbers of troops and military units.
Ukraine, on the other hand, is trying to draw Russia into urban areas as their advantages would become more pronounced. They would be able to use the lay of the land to their benefit and also spring surprises on the Russian troops, being able to cause more casualties.
Colonel John Spencer, chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute, established by US Military Academy, says this kind of warfare is bad for the aggressor.
“The urban defence is hell for any soldier. It usually takes 5 attackers to 1 defender. Russians do not have the numbers”, argued Spencer. Among his recommendations to the residents of Kyiv are: building obstacles in the streets, destroying any bridges, shooting from a hidden position such as windows, and dropping molotov cocktails on a particular spot of enemy vehicles.
The “Battle of the Cities” in Ukraine is underway and it is these urban fights that will seize the attention of the world. They are also the ones that will finally decide the outcome of this tragic situation.
With inputs from agencies
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