Russia Doesn't Like Night Fighting, Giving Ukraine A Big Advantage

A surprising lesson from the Ukraine war is that despite all its ostensible technological tactical and strategic superiority, the Russians prefer not to fight at night. 

This has given Ukrainian forces an advantage as NATO doctrine emphasizing taking advantage of any observable weakness the enemy presents. JL 

Natalie Musumeci reports in Business Insider:

Russian President Vladimir Putin's troops don't like waging their war against Ukraine at night. As daylight shrinks to less than nine hours a day — down from the 15 to 16 hours of daylight in the height of summer Ukrainian troops could use advanced technology like night vision devices from the West to increase their night fighting capabilities. "Changes to daylight hours, temperature and weather will present unique challenges for fighting soldiers. "Night vision capability is a precious commodity, further exacerbating the unwillingness to fight at night."

Russian President Vladimir Putin's troops don't like waging their war against Ukraine at night, according to a Ukrainian commander who said his country needs gear to effectively fight in the dark.

Ukraine's Special Operations Forces commander Brig. Gen. Viktor Khorenko said his troops need gear while appearing on an episode of the "War on the Rocks" podcast published on Monday. 

"When we deal with Russia, we see that in its bulk, in its mass, Russian forces, they do not conduct combat operations at night," Khorenko told podcast host Ryan Evans. "So then we should fill that gap."

Ukraine has received weapons and resources worth billions of dollars from the United States and other Western nations since Russia invaded the eastern European country eight months ago. But Khorenko said that Ukrainian troops could use advanced technology like night vision devices from the West to increase their night fighting capabilities. 

"We should learn how to act at night more efficiently and do it, and for that, we need all the necessary materials, like night vision devices and other stuff," Khorenko said. 

Since the beginning of the Kremlin's unprovoked war, "we've seen how technologically drones prevail over the battlefield, and we also have to develop that capability and to get some help from the West and our partners," said the commander.

He added, "The only way for us to prevail in this fight is to act with higher quality because we cannot act with quantity like Russia."

 

"That's why we have to be technologically advanced in order to win this war," said Khorenko. 

In recent weeks, thousands of newly mobilized Russian reservists have been deployed to the battlefield as Moscow has suffered disastrous setbacks in the war. 

And as the war drags on, the winter months are expected to "bring a change in conflict conditions" for both Russian and Ukrainian troops, British intelligence said on Monday. 

"Changes to daylight hours, temperature and weather will present unique challenges for fighting soldiers," the UK's Ministry of Defense said in a daily intelligence update.

 

As daylight shrinks to less than nine hours a day — down from the 15 to 16 hours of daylight in the height of summer — there will be "fewer offensives and more static defensive frontlines" in Ukraine, the UK's Ministry of Defense said. 

"Night vision capability is a precious commodity, further exacerbating the unwillingness to fight at night," British intelligence noted.