Lessons from Ukraine War: Infantry Continues to be Queen of the Battle

Infantry Representative Image by Wix AI

In the glamour of the drone and high technology, India could ill afford to neglect the Infantry for success of battles on the Sub Continent as much as in Ukraine will be determined by the "Queen," even as others will preen proud in the narrative.

Infantry the foot soldier pithily called "boots on the ground" has earned the sobriquet of being the, “Queen of the Battle.” Just like the Queen on the chess board the most powerful piece in chess can move unoccupied squares horizontally, vertically, or diagonally and capture an opposing piece by landing on its square, the Infantry too has no limits. The queen can be used for offense to attack and checkmate the opponent's king. 

In a battle, the infantry is the most flexible arm which can be used to destroy the enemy, capture and seize the ground a role that is unique to the arm.

In warfare of the 21^st Century with proliferation of technology in multiple forms from Artificial Intelligence to Quantum, cyber and space, there is a belief that the character of war is changing as tools empowered by these technologies could lead to exponential capabilities in a military which can be war winning ones.

One of the manifestations of this technological expansion is the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle [UAV] or the Drone.

The War in Ukraine is frequently referred to as the Drone War where both sides Ukraine and Russia have made extensive use of UAVs in multiple roles from reconnaissance and surveillance to attacks in the front line and in depth and for logistics supply. Unmanned Ground Vehicles have also been used by Ukraine as ambulances saving many lives and resupply of the frontline.

Drone swarms have emerged as the buzzword but so is Dronophobia for it is now understood that drones cannot win wars, though remain a critical enablers.

There are multiple other weapons systems that have been extensively employed in Ukraine from missiles to artillery and tanks, though limited in numbers.

The role of the Infantry has remained prime and just like the self effacing nature of the arm has not been tomtommed about.

Yet it is the infantry which has remained a powerful determinant of success be it in attack or in defence.

A well known fact of the war in Ukraine is that for the past three years from 2023 to 2025, the front line has moved very slowly some say at a snails pace. Given the defensive posture adopted by the two sides, a breakthrough has not been possible by grand mechanized infantry offensives as penetrating the front line has proved ineffective.

The Reason a paucity of the Infantry on both sides.

While Ukraine, short of manpower has had to man the defences very thinly sometimes as low as 10 soldiers for a kilometer of frontage, the Ukrainian infantry has been adept at preventing a major breakthrough by the Russians skillfully using ground, obstacles mines and First Person View [FPV] drones to advantage to prevent the Russian massing of troops, the latest battle being in Pokrovsk.

Despite their proficiency in employment of drones, Ukraine has acknowledged the role of the infantry. “Ukraine stands because the infantry stands,” read a message spread by the Ground Forces command to mark the Day of Infantry on May 6 in 2025 across Ukraine, from social media to billboards as per the Kyiv Independent.

Indeed had Ukrainians had adequate manning strength the Russians would have been forced to give up plans of the offensive altogether and perhaps accede to the Trump [United States President Donald Trump] plan for cease fire.

The Russians are suffering from a similar challenge being on the offensive for most of 2025, paucity of infantry has led to small team tactics of infiltration, exploitation of gaps and weaknesses in the Ukraine defences to seize and hold ground, build up reinforcements to sustain a counter attack.

The Russians aware of the significance of the infantry have sought to boost up the ground strength from an unlikely source North Korea [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea]. Thousands of North Korean troops were deployed for the counter offensive in Kharkiv in the North East of Ukraine providing the Russian forces adequate flexibility and room for maneouvre to retrieve some of the lost ground in the salient seized by Ukraine.

Indeed, the story of the Russian Kharkiv counter offensive would have been different at least in terms of the campaign time without the North Korean foot soldier.

Russia has also constantly innovated infantry tactics based on the battlefield conditions. The Russian infantry always has had to evade drone surveillance of the Ukraine defender. Russia has thus used classic "infiltration" tactics taking these to the next level of small groups of two to four soldiers moving on foot or even motorcycles to penetrate the defences and seize ground. The snails pace it will be.

One factor remains that of acceptance of casualties. While Ukraine is mindful of the losses, in the Russian case human lives matter less than achieving the objective.

A campaign assessment by the Institute for the Study of War based in Washington DC of the ongoing battle in Pokrovsk highlights tactics used by the Russian infantry wherein “Russian forces send untrained soldiers on assaults to draw Ukrainian drone and artillery fire, revealing the positions of Ukrainian drone and artillery crews, after which trained Russian assault infantry attempt to engage these Ukrainian crews in close combat”.

While Tomahawk missile, Himars and Patriot air defence systems determine the geopolitical context of the War in Ukraine, it is the Infantry on the ground that is bearing the brunt of the battle and will be the war winning factor.

In the glamour of the drone and high technology, India could ill afford to neglect the Infantry for success of battles on the Sub Continent as much as in Ukraine will be determined by the "Queen," even as others will preen proud in the narrative.