MILITARY TRICKS OF THE ARMY OF NESTOR MAKHNО (AUGUST- SEPTEMBER 1919) AND THE DEFENSE FORCES OF UKRAINE (AUGUST- NOVEMBER 2022) IN SOUTHERN RIGHT BANK OF UKRAINE: COMMON AND DIFFERENT

Abstract

Military tricks are an important component of the art of war. In the history of Ukrainian military art, military tricks were particularly successfully used by Cossack formations. Ukrainian troops successfully used similar military tricks during the fight against Russian occupation troops in the South of Right Bank Ukraine (August-September 1919 and August-November 2022). In the process of analyzing military tricks, the author’s approach and methods of comparativism were used. In August-September 1919, the revolutionary insurgent army of Ukraine, led by Nestor Makhnо, defeated the Russian troops (the Red Army and the troops of the Armed Forces of Southern Rus- sia). During the fighting, the Ukrainian rebels successfully used 17 military tricks, which significantly contributed to the victory over the enemy. The Defense Forces of Ukraine successfully applied various components of mil- itary art in battles against Russian troops on the Right Bank of the Kherson region in the fall of 2022. Then the Armed Forces of Ukraine used 11 military tricks. The revolutionary insurgent army of Ukraine under the leadership of Nestor Makhno used much more military tricks, because the circumstances of the war contributed to this (maneuvering war, the talented commander Nestor Makhno, etc.). A comparison of the experience of conducting combat operations by the Ukrainian armies in August-September 1919 and August-November 2022 on the territory of the South of Right-Bank Ukraine testified to the significant similarity of the military tricks that were used. Such realities confirm not only the appropriateness of using the experience of ancestors, but also the presence of appropriate methods of Ukrainian military art and the preservation of the fighting traits of Ukrainian soldiers (initiative, self-sufficiency, combat plasticity, etc.).