““You have the power, but you must fight smart.”“
This is retired Maj. John Spencer, chair of Urban Warfare Studies at West Point’s Modern Warfare Institute, who took to Twitter on Saturday to speak directly to the citizens of Ukraine as fighting for control of the capital Kiev intensified. Main Russian forces advanced closer to the city on Saturday night after earlier airstrikes were reported and civilians were taking up arms to defend the city against potential battalions of Russian troops.
“Urban defense is hell for any soldier. Usually you need 5 attackers for 1 defender. The Russians don’t have the numbers. Turn Kiev and every urban area leading to Kiev into a porcupine,” wrote Spencer, who recommended that the city’s defenders should build thousands of roadblocks, destroy bridges and create bastions to attack the well-armed Russian army.
“If it’s a road, you still have to use it. Build a Model S barrier that still slows a vehicle down,” he writes.
The advice from the tactical expert comes amid the third day of the Ukrainian invasion ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, aimed at toppling Ukraine’s elected government and ending its alignment with the West.
The Wall Street Journal and others were reporting that Ukrainian forces, backed by thousands of volunteers, regained control of the streets of Kiev.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was asked to evacuate Kiev by order of the US government, rejected the offer and urged citizens to take up arms.
Zelensky said in response: “The war is here; I need ammunition, not a ride,” according to a senior US intelligence official with direct knowledge of the conversation, who described Zelensky as optimistic. Zelensky, in a video address on the streets of Kyiv, called on citizens to continue fighting.
About 18,000 rifles had been distributed to volunteers in the capital ready to fight, the WSJ reported.
See also: Zelensky records video on the streets of Kiev to reassure Ukrainians that he will stand firm amid the Russian onslaught
‘It wasn’t Putin who invaded Ukraine’: How state media in Russia is describing the ongoing attack
Spencer’s recommendations were getting attention on Twitter, with hedge fund manager Bill Ackman of Pershing Square Capital echoing the military expert’s messages on urban tactics in Kiev, using the hashtag #StandWithUkraine.
