What is a war of attrition? Meaning of the term and why it is being used about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

The invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces has shocked the international community.

However, the fightback against the eastern force has been stronger than anticipated, with Ukraine holding off the invasion for much long than many experts predicted.

The unexpected push back has led Russia to potentially move onto other methods to meet their aims, with intelligence believing that the conflict is turning into a “war of attrition”.

But what does this mean and what has signalled towards the conflict being described as such?

What does war of attrition mean?

A war of attrition means that the aggressor attempts to break down the enemy through continuous losses of troops and equipment.

The word ‘attrition’ comes from the latin atterere, meaning ‘to rub against’, echoing the metaphorical grinding down of forces in a war of attrition.

The aim of this method is to wear away the resources of the enemy over time to an unsustainable level, rather than directly attempting to take over cities.

Often, warfare in these such conflicts are less strategic and relies heavily on guerilla warfare, such as raids, ambushes and even targeting civilians.

The term was used to describe the war between Egypt and Israel in 1969 and 1970.

Why is the Ukraine invasion being described as a war of attrition?

Russian troops have failed to reach their initial aim in taking key points in the country quickly.

While initial western intelligence pointed towards Russia’s plan being to target key points - such as Kyiv and Kharkiv- quickly, the country appear to have stalled, with larger than expected losses of troops and equipment.

As a result, President Vladimir Putin may be changing tack and attempting to slowly grind down the Ukrainian forces in a push to conserve Russian resources.

New intelligence has confirmed that this is the suspicion.

A Western official said: “When you look at look at a map, and you look at areas of control it’s easy to think perhaps that the last two weeks have seen a stalemate and not much has happened. But, of course, there’s been some pretty ferocious fighting that’s been going on in those areas that are contested, and that has the impact of forcing the Russians to change their approach.

“It’s forced them to have to reorganise and regroup some of their assets in order to be able to to move things.”

Shellings and attacks on civilian targets, such as a maternity hospital in Mariupol and a shopping centre in Kyiv, may point towards the fact that Russia has already moved to attrition.

The UK’s chief of defence intelligence Lieutenant General Sir Jim Hockenhull said: “The Kremlin has so far failed to achieve its original objectives.

“Russian operations have changed. Russia is now pursuing a strategy of attrition. This will involve the reckless and indiscriminate use of firepower. This will result in increased civilian casualties, destruction of Ukrainian infrastructure, and intensify the humanitarian crisis.”

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