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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"Waterworld: How Ukraine Flooded Three Rivers to Help Save Kyiv"
Link to tweet
https://mwi.usma.edu/waterworld-how-ukraine-flooded-three-rivers-to-help-save-kyiv/
Off the eastern coast of central Greece sit high cliffs that once served as a narrow access point from the sea to its cities. Popular legend has it that in 480 BCE a small band of Spartan warriors, led by King Leonidas, defended the mountain pass against a much larger Persian army. The defense of the pass at Thermopylae has been memorialized in books and movies like Gates of Fire and 300.
In the opening phase of the war in Ukraine, the defenders took a page out of the Spartan playbook. To prevent the advancing Russian army from taking Kyiv, the Ukrainians turned the capital into a series of narrow passes that could be defended with a small mix of regular and irregular forces. But in a modern twist on the Thermopylae legend, they then flooded these passes by opening dams to nearby rivers, rendering them unnavigable and effectively sealing the city off from the enemy. Like Sparta, Ukraine is a land powerwhich makes such tactics even more innovative.
Kyiv is a modern city with ancient roots, dating back to 482 CE, if not earlier. Spanning 324 square miles, the city sits on a series of hills, with waterways and river bluffs among the dominant terrain features. These features have long made it an ideal defensive site along a key trade route: the Dnipro River. As its population grewmore than doubling in size between 1962 and 2022so did its suburban sprawl. Kyiv became, in effect, a complex network of connecting towns and villagesareas connected by multiple riverways off the Dnipro that supported local agriculture. After Russias invasion, these areas were the buffer that saved Kyiv and won Ukraine its first major battle of the war.
The Battle to get into Kyiv
The Russians initiated the battle of Kyiv by the landing a small force of airborne troops to capture Antonov Airport, about eighteen miles from the city center. But lacking the necessary combat power to support the dismounted infantry, they were destroyed by Ukrainian artillery and counterattacks soon thereafter. The failed airfield seizure was meant to support the mounted invasion being launched from Belarus to Kyivs north.
*snip*
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"Waterworld: How Ukraine Flooded Three Rivers to Help Save Kyiv" (Original Post)
Nevilledog
Jul 2022
OP
underpants
(182,797 posts)1. Your own backyard has its advantages
Now THATS genius
crickets
(25,975 posts)2. Brilliant. K&R for visibility.