The FT explains what is behind Ukraine's success on the battlefield

Valeriy Zaluzhnyy, an "iron-fisted general", is behind Ukraine's success on the battlefield, the FT has said.

The paper's analysts drew attention to the success of the Ukrainian army under the command of General Valeriy Zaluzhnyy:

Under his command was the deployment of high-precision Western artillery to cut Russia's supply lines across the Dnieper River while minimising Ukraine's losses in the face of large Russian forces. Precision strikes were aimed at armament depots, command posts and two bridges linking the territory to Russian-annexed Crimea to gradually isolate more than 20,000 Russian troops

One of the Ukrainian general's major successes and at the same time Putin's defeats, experts have called the liberation of Kherson:

It's great when you know the enemy, how he operates and with the help of foreign partners you can hit his weaknesses. This is how Commander-in-Chief Zaluzhny operates

The article says Zaluzhny has demonstrated the ability to adapt quickly to a rapidly changing battlefield and also to change tactics quickly. He is able to delegate authority, encourage initiative among lower ranks and get the feedback he needs to respond to opportunities:

The general's command style "allows others to exercise their abilities and talents", while in the Russian army "only one or two people make decisions and the rest are told to just keep quiet." Combined with modern weaponry provided by Western partners, "this is dominated by more artillery, tanks and everything else that Russia has

Military analysts say this top-down approach, with field commanders afraid to take the initiative, has put Russia on the back burner. They also believe that the cold season will not stop Ukraine. Analysts recalled that after US Joint Chiefs of Staff head General Mark Milley suggested that Kiev could use winter to reach a settlement with Russia, Zaluzhny, who rarely expressed his opinion publicly, objected. In his Facebook post he said he told his US counterpart in a telephone p

They add:

In the battle for Kiev, Zaluzhny's decision to disperse Ukrainian air defence assets was crucial to prevent Russia from achieving full air superiority