Russia and Ukraine

[Deesse23]

When you have yo fight or your country and ethnic group perishes, and much of your army’s senior leadership had been relatively new lieutenants, captains and majors just 2 years before,  and your country’s system of staff officer training was not particularly robust and did not particularly emphasize giving junior staff officer trainees early exposure to the skill, practice, and knowledge required for senior command, then you are left with hardly any alternatives to using lives to nullify enemy superiority in tactical skill.

Even in 1944-45, when sporting huge numerical and material advantages, when the officers were well experienced, the red army was still suffering comparatively high losses. This had nothing to do with (lack of) experience, but with doctrine.

During Operation Bagration, where the entire german Army Group Center was routed, the red army had a 2:1 numerical advantage, yet still suffered 2:1 losses. By that time it was mid ´44.