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Ukraine Used the ‘Thunder Run’ Tactic with Great Success — But What Is It?
On the weekend of September 10th through the 11th, Ukraine’s forces smashed through Russian lines in the Kharkivshchyna region and broke a months-long stalemate.
But they didn’t stop there.
The Ukrainians kept going — rushing through villages and cities — while the Russians literally dropped their rifles and ran, leaving behind military hardware and fully-stocked ammo depots.
The Ukrainian military punched 80 km into Russian-held territory, right up to the Russian border.
The Russian line had collapsed.
By the time the Ukrainians had stopped to take a breath, they had captured an area larger than Delaware.
By all accounts, this was the worst Russian defeat since 1943 — ironically that defeat also took place in the very same region, near Izyum.
What the Ukrainians used so effectively was an American tactic called the Thunder Run — a high-risk, high-reward, balls-to-the-wall push into enemy territory that happens so fast, it’s meant to shock and demoralize the enemy.
The origin of the term dates to the Vietnam War
The Vietcong and the NVA were prodigious minelayers. The Americans would later admit after the war that…
