Ukraine’s defense forces: Three years of resilience and battlefield success

Three years ago, few believed Ukraine could withstand Russia’s onslaught. Yet, not only has it endured — it has achieved the impossible and secured its place in history.

Ukraine shattered the myth of the “world’s second-best army” by thwarting the Kremlin’s blitzkrieg plan to seize Kyiv in February-March 2022. This was followed by the liberation of the North, a counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region, and the recapture of Kherson. Ukraine then strategically exhausted the enemy at Bakhmut. Now, the Ukrainian Armed Forces remain in a state of strategic defense, aiming to inflict maximum losses on a numerically and materially superior adversary. At the same time, Ukrainian forces are conducting asymmetric operations, bringing the war onto the aggressor’s own territory.

Ukraine is writing a new chapter in military history. It was the first country to demonstrate how drones can change the rules of war. It has built unique drone strike flotillas that drove Russia’s Black Sea Fleet out of the Black Sea. Ukraine is learning, adapting, and developing modern weaponry — already becoming a nation whose military experience will be studied in the world’s top military academies.

These successes have not gone unnoticed by foreign military experts.

One of them is Colonel Markus Reisner of the Austrian Armed Forces (Bundesheer), widely regarded as Austria’s leading expert on Russia’s war against Ukraine. Closely tracking the war’s developments daily, Reisner’s expertise is highly valued not only in Austria but beyond. He is a frequent guest in Austrian and German media, as well as an invited speaker at discussions and conferences, including the recent Munich Security Conference.

The demand for Reisner’s insights is also evident in the popularity of the Bundesheer’s YouTube channel, where he regularly analyzes key moments of the war. His videos attract hundreds of thousands of views, and the channel’s subscriber count has skyrocketed from 30,000 in 2022 to 262,000 today.

Despite acknowledging Ukraine’s current challenges on and off the battlefield, the Austrian military expert urges people not to lose sight of the bigger picture: “Ukraine has already made history.”

“Three years after the start of Russia’s illegal attack on Ukraine, and regardless of how this war will continue or end in the coming weeks and months, one thing is clear: Ukraine has already made history,” Reisner said. “Three years ago, no one would have thought that the Ukrainians would last longer than three days. The opposite was the case.”

For Ukrinform, he outlined five key examples of Ukraine’s military successes over the past three years (below is Markus Reisner’s text).

1. The Battle for Kyiv

Ukraine achieved a spectacular defensive victory at the beginning of the war near Kyiv. After a few weeks, Russia was forced to go on the defensive and withdraw from the Kyiv area. From the end of March 2022, Russia therefore tried to impose a war of position and attrition on Ukraine. This was followed by the massive use of artillery and the first cruel trench warfare. From the spring of 2022, it was therefore clear that the war would take the course of a war of attrition. However, Ukraine was able to score the first massive success with the liberation of Kyiv. A spirit of optimism swept the country.

2. Victory at Kharkiv

In the fall of 2022, the Ukrainian armed forces surprised with an advance near Kharkiv. Following the military principle of surprise and deception, they forestalled a planned massive Russian attack in the Donbas. While the Russians were massing mechanized forces north of Izium, the Ukrainian forces pushed eastwards through the thinned-out Russian lines. The result was a panic-stricken flood of Russian troops, leaving behind their heavy equipment. A victory for Ukraine, which continues to have an impact to this day.

3. The Russian retreat from Kherson

Even before the attack in the Kharkiv area, another Ukrainian offensive began near Kherson. The goal was to crush the Russian bridgehead there, north of the Dnieper, and push the enemy troops back to the other side of the river. The bridgehead at Kherson was the only place where the Russians had managed to cross to the other side of the river. The Russian troops stubbornly delayed, but eventually withdrew. The supply of troops and the constant shelling of the only three crossing points led to another Russian defeat.

4. Battle for the Black Sea

While Ukrainian troops consolidated on land until early 2023, a bitter struggle for supremacy in the Black Sea raged. In combined strikes carried out using land- and sea-based weapon systems, the Ukrainians not only managed to retake the important Snake Island, but also, and more importantly, to push the Russian Black Sea Fleet to the eastern edge of the Black Sea. Between February 2022 and June 2024, a total of 26 ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet were destroyed or damaged. An historic achievement for a country without significant naval forces.

5. Race of technologies

The successes of the Ukrainians in the ruthless war of attrition of the Russians have many fathers, but one thing stands out: the outstanding ability of the Ukrainian armed forces to use new technologies in a short and innovative form. In particular, semi-autonomous systems are used on land, at sea and in the air. These missions were coupled with effective communication and command and control information systems. To date, tens of thousands of Ukrainian drones have been used daily to reconnoitre, identify and attack Russian targets. But they are also the ones that are taking the war to Russia and inflicting serious damage on the country’s oil industry. Meanwhile, Ukrainian unmanned attack boats dominate the Black Sea and force the Russian naval forces to hide in the ports.

According to the Austrian military expert, Ukraine’s successes are particularly important as they demonstrate how a seemingly weaker force can inflict devastating losses on a much stronger adversary. Just as crucial is ensuring that these remarkable achievements are recognized in the West, leading to Ukraine receiving all necessary support for the liberation of its territories.

“The successes mentioned are an example of how Ukraine has already made military history. Analogous to the successes of the Finnish armed forces in the Finnish-Soviet Winter War from 1939 to 1940 and the Continuation War from 1942 to 1944. It seems all the more tragic that despite these impressive successes, the West is apparently not willing to enable Ukraine to reclaim its lost territories,” Reisner stated. “Regardless of this, Ukraine’s successes will find their way into the history books and serve as a prime example of how seemingly inferior forces can succeed in putting massive pressure on a supposedly stronger opponent.”

Vasyl Korotkyi, Vienna

First photo: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine