Wagner Meat Assaults: Cluster Munitions as Medicine

August 17, 2023April 10, 2026

Military-technical literature oriented toward civilian readers very often cites identical examples of what precisely drives technological progress. Most frequently they cite the example of tank armor evolution versus anti-tank means. Indeed, the example is quite successful since it shows both separate competition sections of these participants and conditional transition points when completely different methods of achieving the set goal began getting applied. By the time you reach the end of this piece, you’ll understand why a story about Wagner Meat Assaults begins with the evolution of tank armor and anti-tank weapons.

Simplified, this looked like machines started hiding under armor trying to protect themselves from enemy fire. Since armor weighed quite a lot, machines turned out cumbersome, but under armor cover they could attack the enemy since bullets, shrapnel and ordinary shells practically couldn’t harm these monsters. But after some time, more powerful and slightly modernized ammunition appeared that actually could penetrate this armor. In response, armor got made thicker and machines became heavier. In turn, weaponsmiths didn’t stand in place either, creating shaped-charge shells that burn through reasonable armor layers.

At some point it seemed anti-tank means finally defeated armor, but not so fast. Layered armor appeared giving the same effect as very thick homogeneous armor layer, which 60-70 ton machines simply couldn’t have in principle anymore since heavier machines become useless — impossible to transport, and not every battlefield becomes accessible for them anymore since 100-ton machine mass becomes complete absurdity.

Dynamic Armor and Tandem Warheads

On the other hand, various dynamic armor variants started getting applied, which with counter-explosion didn’t let ammunition direct its shaped-charge jet inside the armored vehicle. Weaponsmiths developed tandem ammunition when an initiating charge triggers active armor charges while the main charge already formed a shaped-charge jet on the cleared spot. Generally, one thing improved in response to another, escalating.

Something similar gets cited as example regarding air defense means and aviation. There too exists constant struggle of participants in this race, and as result, new technologies allow breaking forward now one side, now the other. As in the first case, no end or edge to this is visible. Only in the current war something unusual happened representing the opposite of the process indicated above. Nobody could think that in the third decade of the 21st century, some army would transition to 19th century tactics — this indeed turned out to be a very unusual challenge.

Wagner Meat Assaults: Return to 19th Century

Indeed, meat waves that became the calling card of the garbage federation are a slightly refined tactic of late 19th, early 20th century. This is that very tactic which all the world’s leading armies abandoned in World War II. This doesn’t mean something similar didn’t arise in episodes now in one place, now in another, but this happened by force when no other choice remained. Precisely such things testified to some catastrophic situation or command’s complete incompetence. Not surprising that each army tries avoiding such things, using equipment, maneuver and everything that appeared later. Hence follows that when this gets done from desperation — one thing, but when similar things become the basis of battlefield tactics — this is completely different. Precisely this way they acted a hundred years ago and even earlier.

Note, at the start of full-scale invasion, the opponent tried demonstrating maneuverable warfare. Albeit not of the type US armed forces demonstrated during Gulf Wars. Main elements nevertheless got borrowed but as later became clear — mindlessly and stupidly. Eventually by last summer the opponent demonstrated “standing at Izyum.” They accumulated strike groupings in Izyum area in the north and Popasna in the south to encircle our troops’ grouping in Donbas. For various reasons they never decided to start the offensive and paid for it. Ukrainian Armed Forces delivered a preemptive strike which turned out even more successful than initial calculation. Simply there were no reserves that could be thrown into the breakthrough. Logistics wasn’t yet deployed for deep raids.

From Popasna to Bakhmut Meat Grinder

So the opponent decided to maximally work from the southern salient that remained not demolished. They started an offensive from Popasna. Wagner was at the attack’s spearhead and apparently then arose the idea to discard all these refinements with maneuvers and tactical etudes. Return to the old tradition of meat assaults that penal battalions demonstrated so as not to count meat that would be laid down in the process. Understandably, regular army refused to fight this way. Professional military easily calculated loss quantity and stated they’d rather stand on foot. Then this meat got decided to recruit into new penal battalions, which soon got done.

What happened next, we all saw and now know by the city’s name in whose area everything occurred — Bakhmut. There conveyor utilization of personnel got applied. Unlike all other cases, this death conveyor got presumed from the very start. Therefore such die-off of Wagnerites didn’t confuse anyone in principle. Only the current enemy is poorly but still protected by individual protection means — body armor, helmets and so forth. If so, small arms effectiveness, unless large caliber, turned out lower than required. Wagner meat assaults created a density problem that 21st century weapons weren’t designed to handle.

Balance Shift and the Response

Here arose a situation like with armor and anti-tank means. The opponent increased attacking wave density to such limits which in the 21st century already got considered unrealistic. Simply due to loss quantity with such attack methods. But if the opponent doesn’t give a damn about losses, then waves move forward slowly but surely. Precisely this way the opponent managed to shift the force balance. Strike means effectiveness simply wasn’t enough to destroy such dense attacking flow. The opponent caught this moment. At some point they compacted the flow even stronger. Only this way, carpeting Bakhmut with their corpses, they managed to push our military to city outskirts. But eventually free meat ran out.

However this had quite noticeable consequences. Already army leadership, with disgust observing Wagner meat waves, came to the conclusion this is the only means to somehow move forward. They started driving meat waves already from their own convict detachments “Shtorm.” Then from mobilized, with the same result. But as described at the very start, shifted balance generates response actions aimed at adequately parrying this shift.

Obviously dense opponent infantry groups they operated with in Bakhmut require wholesale utilization means for such herds. We remember that in the last three decades, Western weapons systems developed in the opposite direction. Military ordered development of high-precision ammunition having minimal collateral damage. But if the opponent took several steps back in warfare methods, then one should look back at what medicine managed treating similar things. It turned out cluster munitions are precisely what works maximally effectively precisely against such enemy tactics.

Cluster Munitions as Medicine

Even first applications of these munitions already caused howling in the opponent’s camp. Since partners have enormous multitudes of such shells, they gradually started arriving in ever greater quantities to Ukrainian Armed Forces artillery units. Fire intensity precisely with “cluster rounds” started growing exponentially. Now work with these munitions became horror for the enemy. Occupant publics simply howl from loss quantity. To what the munitions themselves do, two more factors got added: our artillery’s high accuracy plus Ukrainian Armed Forces’ complete dominance in counter-battery struggle.

Moreover, precisely this element our military organized creatively and let’s say not quite classically. Therefore our counter-battery effectiveness is simply divine. The dry residue turns out Ukrainian Armed Forces found the cure for Wagner meat assaults — the opponent’s main means since last autumn. The results of balance shift now already in our favor become increasingly noticeable.

Soil Enrichment Program

Well, finally worth noting this: as a familiar agronomist says, cluster munitions work toward unconditional Ukrainian black soil quality improvement. It often happens that collecting something from what just recently was a platoon, sometimes even a company of occupiers, there’s simply nothing to collect. But it doesn’t go nowhere — it becomes part of the soil’s upper layer. The farther it goes, the fatter this layer becomes.