The Western powers have the equipment and the theory, but it is the Ukrainians who have the practical experience of actual combat in Europe against Russia. At a base in Germany, this has created a unique dynamic.
(DW) A long way from any battlefield, German and Ukrainian soldiers gathered in a clearing near Klietz, in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, are dressed for war. They carry rifles and military equipment and are accompanied by tanks and other heavy weapons in a green area two hours’ drive from Berlin.
Camouflaged helmets and faces concealed by balaclavas aggravate the foreboding scene which, fortunately for those present, was just an act. The soldiers were there, on the eve of the second anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine, to greet the authorities.
The German president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German defense minister, Boris Pistorius, and the Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Oleksiy Makeev, were visiting the base of the Bundeswehr, the German armed forces, which is taking part in a European Union mission to train Ukrainian soldiers.
At first glance, the presentation of military power, which included a tank maneuver using live ammunition and a demonstration of equipment repair, could conceal a major difference between the armies of the two countries. The Germans’ most recent experience of a major war was eight decades ago, when they launched the Second World War. During the Cold War, there was training for a feared armed confrontation against the Soviet Union, but it never happened.
Student becomes teacher
As a result, the Ukrainians are the only active military personnel with experience of how to fight a land war in Europe against an invading Russian army. While the Germans are teaching tactics they’ve never had to put into practice, many of the Ukrainian apprentices have just left the front lines.
When the training program ends, the Germans will return to their barracks, while the Ukrainians will return to the battlefield.
The soldiers were not allowed to speak to the press during the visit, but the senior German officer at the venue told DW that the gap between theory and practice is a constant presence in the training.
“We find that we do things very differently, we use systems very differently, because the ideas before the Ukraine war about how you fight a war were different from today,” said Major General Stefan Lüth, deputy head of the Bundeswehr’s Joint Support and Enabling Service (SKB).
“The exchange is important,” he said. While the Ukrainians learn NATO methods using weapons provided by Germany and other countries, the German instructors indirectly absorb the bitter lessons of real combat.
The widespread use of drones and unforeseen vulnerabilities in the supply chain, for example, are forcing Western military planners to revise their assumptions. “[The Ukrainians] experience how things are now, and you can learn from that,” said Lüth.
Military mission amid political challenges
The European Union Military Assistance Mission to Ukraine (EUMAM) is in its second year. Germany and Poland have taken on most of the responsibility, although most EU members and some non-EU countries participate in some way. According to EU data, 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been trained so far, and the authorities aim to reach 30,000 by the end of 2024.
The United States and the United Kingdom also run their own training programs.
This kind of practical engagement seems to be increasingly diverging from support in the highest circles of power. In Washington, Berlin and Brussels, keeping the promise to support Ukraine “for as long as it takes” is running into domestic political obstacles. The US is approaching elections in November, and Republicans in Congress are making it difficult to send aid to Ukraine.
In Germany, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz often celebrates the new bilateral security agreement signed by his government with Ukraine and its leading position, in absolute numbers, in financial assistance to the country invaded by Russia, but at the same time presses to reduce its participation in an EU fund.
In addition, on the eve of Steinmeier and Pistorius’ visit to the training camp, the government majority in parliament voted down an opposition resolution calling for the deployment of Taurus cruise missiles in Ukraine. Scholz justified his refusal to authorize the deployment of the missile by the fear of escalation, saying that the use of the weapon would require Germany’s direct participation in target selection.
Within the EU, the goal of delivering one million artillery shells by March is far from being achieved, as member countries put the desire to expand their domestic production ahead of the possibility of acquiring existing stocks from around the world.
“Ukraine can certainly win,” US historian Timothy Snyder told German newspaper taz. “The problem is not the Ukrainians. The problem is us – Europe and North America,” he said.
On Monday, the French government, which has been criticized for making a meager contribution to Ukraine’s defense, hastily organized a high-level meeting with allies in Paris, hoping to reenergize the Euro-Atlantic community that supports Ukraine. And President Emmanuel Macron made headlines by mentioning the possibility of a European military presence in Ukraine.
Consequences of inaction
European public opinion seems to have followed these signs of discouragement. According to a new survey by the European Council on Foreign Relations, more people in the EU are in favor of pushing for peace than insisting on recapturing territory lost to Russia. Germans are almost exactly in line with the EU average – 41% to 32% respectively.
Ukraine’s staunchest supporters denounce any negotiations as a capitulation to Russian President Vladimir Putin and a threat to European security. However vague the idea of “victory” may be for them, “defeat” means something much clearer.
“People tend to describe the situation as a stalemate. Actually, it’s not. Along stretches of the front line, Russian troops have been able to advance very slowly and gradually,” said András Rácz, senior researcher at the German Council on Foreign Relations, at a press conference in Berlin last week.
The weakening of Ukrainian forces has led to calls for a shift to “active defense”, which means ensuring that Ukraine can hold its front line until it is strong enough to make another offensive push. This would require more weapons, as well as more advanced models, which Ukraine’s biggest suppliers have been denying or postponing.
It also requires continuous training on how to use the weapons. Where this is happening, on military bases far from the capitals that host the political debates, the soldiers tasked with preparing Ukrainians to return to war with new skills carry out their orders without giving much thought to the politics that shape them.
“This is an important task that makes a contribution. It certainly doesn’t solve everything, but it actively supports Ukraine,” said Major General Lüth, adding that it is the responsibility of experts and policymakers to define a mission. It’s up to the military to carry it out. “In that sense, I don’t see a problem with the evolution of the policy,” he said.
*** Translated by DEFCONPress FYI Team ***
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