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Story Synopsis:
Four fatal flaws? Ukraine's key challenges today are more than the war fought in its east.
NATO’s experience may help to fix a long-damaged institution that is vital to defending Ukraine – its armed forces. In this feature NATO experts, Ukrainian politicians and journalists talk about why Ukraine’s Armed Forces found themselves on the back foot when attacked and how they can turn the fight around.
About the four-part series Ukraine: The Unseen Attacks
Fighting in the east has come to characterize Ukraine. But Ukraine’s struggle for survival and self-determination, free of corrupt governments and Russian influence is fought on many other fronts. From cyber defense to internal defense, fixing its forces to telling the truth – Ukraine faces challenges that may determine its very survival.
Full script:
=VOICEOVER =
Fighting in the east has come to characterize Ukraine. But Ukraine’s struggle for survival and self-determination, free of corrupt governments and Russian influence is fought on many other fronts.
In this program, we’ll look at four distinct challenges Ukraine faces in addition to fighting on its borders. From cyber defense to internal defense, fixing its forces to telling the truth – Ukraine faces challenges that may determine its very survival.
=GRAPHIC=
UKRAINE – THE UNSEEN ATTACKS
=GRAPHIC=
UKRAINE’S ARMED FORCES
=VOICEOVER=
Ukraine’s Armed Forces continue to defend their country against incursions by pro-Russian-separatists. But it’s a struggle that hasn’t come easy for a force that relies heavily on conscripts and volunteers.
In early Summer 2014, it looked as if Ukrainian forces might prevail against pro-Russian separatists. But during a brief ceasefire, the rebels regrouped with the help of advanced weapons systems.
Military journalist, Yuriy Butusov of news agency Censor.net says he initially couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw Russian hardware in his country.
=SOUNDBITE IN RUSSIAN=
Yuriy Butusov, Military Journalist, founder of Censor.net
“I didn’t believe it. I thought it was propaganda or somebody was seeing things.
But two days later the first post was shelled in the region of Dobropillia by the first GRAD.”
=VOICEOVER=
Deadly weapons like GRAD missiles and BUK systems devastated Ukrainian forces, including a tragic rout at Illovaisk where hundreds of soldiers were killed or captured after being encircled by enemy forces.
The Ukrainian armed forces at Illovaisk were outgunned and outmanoeuvred. Something that many blame not on poor soldiers, but poor military planning.
=SOUNDBITE IN RUSSIAN=
Dmytro Tymchuk, MP, founder of Information Resistance Blog
“Our intelligence data was good and it was provided to the Ukrainian military leadership, but the bureaucratic machinery failed and did not allow us to react properly. So the result was this tragedy.”
=VOICEOVER=
But to understand why Ukraine’s armed forces found themselves on the back foot, we need to go back to the fall of the Soviet Union in the early nineties.
=SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH=
Captain Dimiter Illeieff, NATO Military Liaison Officer to Ukraine
‘The total strength of the military was almost 1 million when Ukraine got its independence in 1991. And for those 23, 25 years, they were reduced to less than 200,000. This has enormous impact.”
=VOICEOVER=
Add to these drastic reductions 25 years of mismanagement and, many believe, deliberate neglect.
=VOICEOVER=
Captain Dimiter Illeieff, NATO Military Liaison Officer to Ukraine
“It’s a question of deliberate underfunding for more than 20 years.”
=SOUNDBITE IN RUSSIAN=
Yuriy Butusov, Military Journalist, founder of Censor.net
“Before the war, during the regime of Yanukovych, the Ministry of Defense was headed by Russian agents. Two successive Ministers of Defense were Russian citizens and they completely destroyed our units of high readiness. They undermined our capabilities and actually destroyed a big portion of our equipment.”
=VOICEOVER=
The good news is that Ukraine’s war has given thousands of soldiers experience in a year that would take many armies ten to acquire.
But to build on that experience will take careful training and mentoring, even as fighting sporadically continues despite the Minsk agreements.
NATO has pledged money to improve Ukraine’s armed forces through mentoring command and control structures, something the former regime resisted.
=SOUNDBITE IN RUSSIAN=
Dmitry Tymchuk, MP, Founder of Information Resistance Blog
“Under Yanukovych, there was a backslide to a Soviet system of governance. The more the system of distribution of resources is complicated, the more opportunities there are for corruption. That’s why our military leadership resisted a switch to a more simple and understandable NATO structure.”
=VOICEOVER=
If the current Soviet-style system is allowed to continue without reform, it could have devastating results.
=SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH=
Admiral Ihor Kabanenko, Former First Deputy Chief of Defence, Armed Forces of Ukraine
“The system doesn’t work because this system kills initiative, kills responsibility. If this system will continue I think it would be a question of more casualties and the loss of territory.”
=VOICEOVER=
And while, thanks to volunteers and conscripted troops, numbers are increasing, emphasis will need to be on quality as well as quantity.
=SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH=
Yuriy Butusov Military Journalist, founder of Censor.net
“We need to understand the professional level of a volunteer. If you want to be a patriot, if you want to fight for Ukraine, you have to be alive. You have to be effective on the front line. We don’t need dead patriots.”
=VOICEOVER=
Ukraine’s armed forces have long days and nights of fighting ahead of them as well as years of caring for their wounded and developing their defences. With no signs that fighting will cease completely it will be a steep learning curve.
This version includes voiceover and graphics.
| Date Taken: | 03.31.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 07.14.2015 13:22 |
| Category: | Package |
| Video ID: | 414935 |
| Filename: | DOD_102589070 |
| Length: | 00:05:17 |
| Location: | KYIV, UA |
| Downloads: | 137 |
| High-Res. Downloads: | 137 |
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