Expert says urban warfare a ‘humiliation’ for Russia
Medal of Honor recipient Staff Sgt. David Bellavia says urban warfare ‘does not make sense on a tactical level’ for Russia.
An Army veteran who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism in Iraq broke down Thursday on "Fox & Friends" why urban warfare will be difficult in Russia’s invasion into Ukraine.
Retired Army Staff Sgt. David Bellavia said the invasion has not gone well for Vladimir Putin so far and may get worse as the fighting moves to more urban areas.
"This is a humiliation. This is allegedly a world power that has top five military in the world. And look, for the outnumbered aspect that Russia has with material, technology and true power, why you would want to then take that into a house-to-house situation where it nullifies all that technology?" he told host Brian Kilmeade
Bellavia said "home-field advantage is going to go to the defender" as this war goes on.
"You put a machine gun behind the door, I don’t care if you are SEAL Team 6 or Marvel ‘Avengers,' you are going to get shot. To me, it makes no sense from a tactical level why Putin would want to attempt this."
Ukrainian soldiers take positions outside a military facility as two cars burn, in a street in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022. Russian troops stormed toward Ukraine's capital Saturday, and street fighting broke out as city officials urged residents to take shelter. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Bellavia explained further why combat in a "house-to-house situation" does not work on a tactical level for Russia.
"Just thinking about your own home, right? You know where everything is. You have lived there for years," he said, adding that type of warfare takes a psychological toll on soldiers who don't know where the opposing forces are located.
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"It’s physically exhausting. Emotionally and spiritually exhausting. And dangerous as all get out. You don’t have to be skilled to shoot at someone going through a door," said Bellavia, who received the Medal of Honor from President Trump for his actions to save his fellow soldiers in Fallujah, Iraq.
He said the amount of Ukrainians fighting for the love of their country should "scare the hell out of Putin."
Even while 1.5 million Ukrainians have fled the country amid the Russian invasion in the past two weeks, more than 100,000 Ukrainians and others have flocked to Ukraine in order to fight Putin's forces, according to Ukraine Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov. Ukrainians on the ground tell Fox News Digital that volunteers have been turned away from the army because it lacks weapons.
"More than 140,000 Ukrainians, mostly men, have returned from Europe," Reznikov wrote in a Facebook post Monday. "Tens of thousands joined the Territorial Defense Forces. Of course, there are those who run away. But the whole world sees the Ukrainian people fighting for their country."
Fox News' Tyler O'Neil contributed to this report.