A more aggressive Russian army is still no match for NATO, but is strong enough to scare some neighbours

WHEN Russian armoured columns rumbled into Georgia last month, an early casualty was General Anatoly Khrulyov, the head of the 58th Army, who was wounded by shrapnel and evacuated. The Russians lost their most senior commander in the field because, by their own accounts, they did not know where Georgian units were. Russian forces lacked surveillance drones and night-vision equipment. Radios worked poorly, and commanders resorted to using mobile phones. Troops barely co-ordinated with the air force, which lost several jets (among them a Tu-22 strategic bomber) and dropped mostly old "dumb" bombs rather than modern smart ones. The wonder is how the Russians routed the Georgians so swiftly.