Ex-Ukrainian colonel urges Taiwan's president to engage in wartime rehearsals

Taipei, Nov. 19 (CNA) Taiwan's president should participate in "rehearsals" in anticipation of possible enemy maneuvers in a war to avoid giving misjudged commands and to help establish clear rules of engagement (ROE) -- something Ukraine should have done before Russia launched its invasion, a retired Ukrainian colonel said.

"The political leadership [of Taiwan], I believe, has to be very conscious and have full security situation awareness in order to exercise some kind of right in a timely manner, or apply rules of engagement...from the strategic level to the tactical level," Andrii Ordynovych, a retired Ukrainian Air Force colonel, told CNA on Wednesday when asked what lessons Ukraine's ongoing fight against Russian troops could provide for Taiwan.

"For leaders, it is very important to identify clearly the different challenges and risks to national security and provide the right political guidance to the military," said Ordynovych, adding that the military can then implement strategies and defense plans accordingly.

Asked how improving the president's battlespace awareness could aid the military's efforts to bolster centralized command capabilities -- a highlight for Taiwan's annual Han Kuang military exercises this year and in 2024 -- Ordynovych, currently director of strategic support and development at the Ukrainian Freedom Fund, stressed the importance of involving the president in "rehearsals" based on how security situations could evolve.

"When working under time pressure, you could temporarily lose sight of developments in the security situation and make some unacceptable mistakes. It would be wise to pre-emptively outline strategies that could be applied in a given situation," Ordynovych said.

These rehearsals could take the form of decision-making with and without the aid of computers, reserve force training, and civilian-held exercises, with the goal of establishing ROEs covering as many scenarios as possible, he said.

He lauded Taiwan's efforts to develop decentralized command capabilities, calling it the "right decision." Such efforts, Ordynovych said, would help Taiwan's armed forces establish "mission command," which the Ukrainian military has been employing, where there is centralized command and decentralized execution by commanding officers at all levels.

Underlining the crucial function of ROEs in a conflict, Ordynovych cited the examples of Ukraine's inadequate responses before Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

"We did not respond with appropriate actions before the full-scale invasion [and] before 2014. You don't need to repeat our mistakes," he said.

Ordynovych was in Taipei for a security forum hosted by the NGO Doublethink Lab.