Studies have shown that the Russian operations in Georgia and Crimea have been described as both examples of failed and successful operations. Both conflicts had hybrid elements to them, especially the Russian annexation of Crimea which jumpstarted the western debate into the subject.
This study aims to analyse the difference in Russian methodology and differences between the two conflicts, this is done based on a theoretical framework of ‘effective hybrid warfare’. The goal of this study is to discern to what extent these two cases can be described as effective hybrid warfare operations. This is done thru the method of comparative studies.
The results showed that the operation on Crimea to a greater extent could be considered effective hybrid warfare, more specifically, the weaker aspects of the Russian operation in Georgia seemed to have been corrected and were less present in the Crimean operation. This indicates that the Russian staff learned from its mistakes and the weak points of the Crimean operation is not likely to be present in their next campaign.