... This edition of LOOKING BACK does not look back very far; only to 24 February 2022 when Russian forces invaded Ukraine. It attempts to identify uses of night vision equipment by both the Russians and the Ukrainians in this conflict. Available information on this topic is not extensive and the information that can be found all comes from various newspaper and magazine reporting.

Both sides were equipped with night vision equipment at the start of the fighting. The Russian military had the full complement of equipment that any modern fighting force could be expected to have. This included night vision goggles (both for ground soldiers and aviators), night weapon sights, thermal imaging binoculars (including uncooled technology) and night vision systems for helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft and ground tactical vehicles.

Regarding Ukraine, it is known that at least Ukrainian Special Forces had been funded and trained by the U.S. since 2015. It can be assumed this included training with night vision equipment and in conducting night operations, as well as providing some night vision equipment. Further, it is known that the U.S. provided various types of military equipment to Ukraine prior to the invasion. Specifically, this equipment included Javelin man-portable anti-armor missile systems and Stinger man-portable surface-to-air missile systems. The Javelin system includes a thermal imaging Command Launch Unit (CLU) that enables day and night operation, and the Stingers may have been provided with some AN/PAS-13 (V)2 Thermal Weapon Sights (TWS) which they use as a night sight. Both the CLU and the TWS can also be used for stand-alone reconnaissance and surveillance; thereby increasing their operational usefulness. It is also known that Ukraine has requested additional night vision equipment. This occurred on 28 February 2022 in a letter from Ukrspecexport, a state-owned arms trading company. It was implied the letter was intended for the U.S. Government.

The Russian invasion began as could easily be expected with early morning (pre-dawn) artillery, missile and air strikes on cities, airfields and army bases located throughout Ukraine. This took place on Thursday, 24 February 2022. The attacking forces came from the approximately 190,000 troops that Russia had placed around Ukraine's borders in the previous weeks. It is not known if ground forces advanced on the 24th, but they reportedly did so by the next day, 25 February. Pre-dawn missile and air strikes also continued that day.

Ukrainian forces did not take long to fight back. As early as the day after the fighting started, Ukrainian authorities showed evidence of fierce fighting around the country. This included video of downed aircraft and damaged tanks and armored personnel carriers from both sides. At the end of the first week of fighting, a photo was included in THE WEEK magazine that showed a destroyed column of Russian tanks and vehicles north of Kyiv. Information as to the time of day of the attack that led to this wreckage was not provided. By 28 February 2022, an expert on land warfare at the Royal United Services Institute, a British defense think tank, said that Russia's hope had been to avoid casualties by planning a "shock and awe" demonstration that involved rapid advances and the seizure of a few key objectives in the hope that the Ukrainian Government would quickly surrender or flee. "That failed," the expert said.

A few days later—4 March 2022—it was reported that a long Russian column of vehicles had bogged down outside Kyiv and that the Russians started to change tactics. They began using their superior firepower; launching hundreds of missiles and artillery attacks on cities and other sites around Ukraine. Defense One described this as "Plan B." Although the number is not known, more than a few of these attacks took place at night. Locations included the cities of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kramatorsk, Chernihiv, Izyum, Mykolaiv, Mariupol, Severodonetsk, Sumy and others. At least some of these attacks were said to be indiscriminate. Known night attacks included the Zaporizhzhy nuclear power plant in Enerhodar and the Mykolaiv Marine Barracks.

Russian ground operations also took place in Mariupol and near Kharkiv. They may not have been successful as Russian Major Generals were killed in each. A third Russian General was said to have been killed in a "special operation." Additional Russian general officers and senior military leaders have also been killed in the fighting. Deaths of general officers on a modern battlefield were described as being very rare.

A night air raid was conducted by the Russians on the village of Bushiv (near Kyiv).

Reporting of actual night raids or ambushes conducted by ground soldiers has been minimal, but mostly from the Ukrainian side. One description of such activity took place early in the second week of the war. A former Ukrainian defense minister said that Ukrainian Special Forces had engaged in efforts to demoralize the Russians, assaulting their convoys and their camps at night. (Evidently, the U.S. training paid off.) Also by that time, Ukraine's military said that it had destroyed 269 Russian tanks and nearly a thousand armored personnel vehicles.

Further reporting advised that the reason Kyiv has not been taken by the Russians was due to their sticking with Soviet-style large maneuver tactics that included moving in long convoys which are vulnerable to small Ukrainian units and drones; some of which carried thermal cameras. A Ukrainian Special Forces soldier who was going on missions near Kyiv every night said: "we're in shock at how dumb their behavior is."

Another possible use of night vision equipment has been the transport of weapons and other military gear from Polish border towns into Ukraine. Said a Polish worker who lives 500 yards from the Ukraine border: "I don't know if I am supposed to tell you...It's kind of a secret, but at night lots of aid goes across." It is doubtful these vehicles would have been driven with simply their headlights on given that Russian attacks were known to take place near the Ukraine/Poland border.

This summary article is not close to being complete, but it is believed to be factual. As the end of March 2022 approaches one thing that can be said with certainty is that night vision capability appears to have contributed to Ukraine's battlefield successes. Another certainty is that the human toll of this war has been enormous. At least 10 million Ukrainian civilians have abandoned their homes; including 3.4 million who have fled the country. Several thousand have been killed. As many as 40,000 Russian soldiers have either been killed, wounded, captured or are missing in action (NATO estimate). Ukrainian military casualties are not known, but probably are high. Praying this tragedy ends soon.   -- John Domalski