UK’s Radakin sees grinding duel, ‘skirmish opportunities’ in Ukraine

WASHINGTON — The head of Britain’s armed forces described the Russian-instigated war in Ukraine as a “grinding” duel between largely fixed artillery positions along the front line, interrupted by “skirmishes” for battlefield advantage, with neither side on top.

U.K. Chief of the Defence Staff Adm. Antony Radakin said Russia’s reinforcing of its troops in Kherson, which Moscow’s forces captured early in the war, is representative of a rather static picture of the conflict’s trajectory that’s not conducive to quick wins.

He spoke to reporters during a visit to U.S. military leaders in Washington following a trip to the U.K.-sponsored “Atlantic Future Forum” aboard the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier docked in New York.

The battle for Kherson “speaks to what I think has been a feature of the whole war, which is, quite often, it’s that there is a competition,” Radakin said. “And you get these grinding effects. And it’s not that one side has enormous advantage over the other.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday declared eastern Ukraine regions Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia as part of Russia, following sham referendums there this week. He threatened to use nuclear weapons to defend them. Western governments have called the annexation illegitimate.

Radakin said he’s cautious about pinning Ukraine’s military fortunes on a singular class of arms, like battle tanks.

Ukrainian officials have said they want modern tanks from the West to beat back Russian troops. In Germany, the question of whether or not to send Leopard tanks has completely crowded out the public perception of Berlin’s level of assistance to Kyiv.

According to Radakin, Ukrainian forces excel at using a diverse set of weapons that play to their defensive strengths and finding new avenues for employing them on the battlefield, like drones deployed to find targets. He added that he is wary of the argument that “an X number of battle tanks” would lead to a “massive shift” in outcomes.

By the same token, the dynamics of upcoming bad weather on the battlefield should not be overstated, Radakin argued.

“The fight that’s going on at the moment is not massive formations maneuvering around at speed,” he said. “It’s a grinding conflict, much of it skirmishes. And then from the skirmishes you then see opportunities.”

Sebastian Sprenger is associate editor for Europe at Defense News, reporting on the state of the defense market in the region, and on U.S.-Europe cooperation and multi-national investments in defense and global security. Previously he served as managing editor for Defense News. He is based in Cologne, Germany.

华盛顿——英国武装部队总司令将俄罗斯挑起的乌克兰战争描述为一场“消耗战”，双方主要在前线固定的炮兵阵地之间展开，期间穿插着争夺战场优势的“小规模冲突”，双方均未取得胜利。

英国国防参谋长安东尼·拉达金海军上将表示，俄罗斯向赫尔松增派兵力，表明这场冲突的走向相当稳定，不利于快速取胜。赫尔松是莫斯科军队在战争初期占领的。

在访问停泊在纽约的伊丽莎白女王号航空母舰上，参加由英国赞助的“大西洋未来论坛”之后，他在华盛顿会见了美国军方领导人，并接受了记者的采访。

拉达金说：“赫尔松战役体现了我认为贯穿整场战争的一个特点，那就是双方往往都在竞争。这会导致双方陷入僵持，而不是一方拥有绝对优势。”

俄罗斯总统普京周五宣布乌克兰东部的赫尔松、顿涅茨克、卢甘斯克和扎波罗热共和国并入俄罗斯，此前这些地区本周举行了虚假的公投。他威胁要动用核武器捍卫这些地区。西方国家政府称此次吞并非法。

拉达金表示，他对将乌克兰的军事命运寄托于单一类型的武器（例如坦克）持谨慎态度。

乌克兰官员表示，他们希望从西方获得现代化坦克来击退俄军。在德国，是否向乌克兰派遣豹式坦克的问题完全掩盖了公众对柏林向基辅提供援助程度的看法。

拉达金认为，乌克兰军队擅长运用多种武器，充分发挥自身的防御优势，并不断探索新的战场运用途径，例如部署无人机侦察目标。他还表示，他对“增加一定数量的坦克”就能“彻底改变战局”的说法持谨慎态度。

拉达金认为，同样地，也不应过分夸大战场上即将到来的恶劣天气的影响。

他说：“目前的战斗并非大规模的快速机动，而是一场旷日持久的消耗战，大部分是小规模冲突。而机会往往就藏在这些小规模冲突之中。”

塞巴斯蒂安·斯普伦格是《防务新闻》欧洲版副主编，负责报道该地区的防务市场状况，以及美欧在防务和全球安全领域的合作和多国投资。此前，他曾担任《防务新闻》执行主编。他现居德国科隆。