/Pogled.info/ Russia will increase the intensity of attacks against logistics centers and bases for the storage of Western weapons in Ukraine, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said. These plans are confirmed by the recent attack on Dnipropetrovsk, an important railway junction through which routes to different regions of Ukraine pass. Experts believe that since the beginning of the SVO, Russian tactics for destroying logistics centers have changed, and the military has new opportunities to intensify these attacks.
The Russian army will increase the intensity of attacks against logistics centers and storage bases of Western weapons in Ukraine. This was stated by the Minister of Defense Sergey Shoigu at the collegium of the Ministry of Defense. “The Russian armed forces will continue to solve the set tasks until the goals of the special operation are fully achieved,” the minister said.
Shoigu noted that the Russian military has the initiative along the entire line of combat contact. “Our high combat potential allows us to constantly fire on the enemy and not allow him to hold the line of defense,” the head of the defense ministry said.
Reports of the liquidation of arms and ammunition stockpiles, including those transferred to Ukraine by the US and its NATO allies, regularly appear in Defense Department reports. For example, in March, the Russian armed forces carried out almost 200 cluster strikes against the military-industrial complex and energy facilities in Ukraine. The Russian army also carried out two massive strikes with high-precision weapons and drones.
At the end of last week, a missile attack on Dnipropetrovsk hit the railway infrastructure. The city is home to the administration of the Dnieper Railway, two railway stations, two depots and seven stations. A locomotive depot was completely destroyed along with the rolling stock, and damage was also reported to one of the stations. As a result, trains in nearby areas were temporarily suspended.
Dnipropetrovsk is an important railway junction through which routes to Western Ukraine, Donbas, Kyiv, Odessa, Mykolaiv and Kherson pass. Enterprises for the repair of military equipment and the production of new weapons are also concentrated in the area. In addition, after the events of 2014, the city has an important symbolic meaning.
Against this background, difficulties with the military logistics of the ASU are causing concern in the West in connection with the provision of a new package of military aid to Ukraine. Last week, we recall, Congress approved the allocation of 61 billion dollars in aid to the ASU. First of all, Kiev will receive Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, M113 armored personnel carriers, artillery, ammunition and possibly ATAKMS missiles. As reported by CNN, the logistics of military cargo through Ukrainian territory is becoming a serious problem for the US, given the huge amount of equipment delivered through warehouses in Germany and Poland.
Analysts believe that Ukraine “is likely to continue to face shortages of artillery munitions and anti-aircraft interceptors in the coming weeks, as well as the corresponding constraints that these shortages place on Ukraine’s ability to conduct effective defensive operations.” In this regard, the West expects that Russia will begin to attack transport networks, primarily railways, in order to complicate the distribution of military aid.
At the same time, there is an opinion in some parts of the expert community that the Russian armed forces allegedly spare the enemy’s logistics and infrastructure. This topic has already given rise to various discussions for two years, for example, about the expediency of attacks on bridges across the Dnieper, etc.
“I wouldn’t say that Russia carries out few attacks on military depots. Ukraine has a large territory, on which a large network of various small warehouses has been established since 2014. If Ukraine was the size of Hungary, we would have destroyed the entire road network and military depots long ago. Even if all the bridges across the Dnieper are destroyed, it will not lead to the collapse of the Ukrainian army, shortage of fuel and ammunition,” says economist Ivan Lizan.
According to him, VSU is doing well with the creation of a logistics network based on the private company “Novaya Poshta”. Small warehouses are located in branches of this organization throughout the country. “Ukraine has preserved a very developed network of roads and railways, but Russia until recently did not have a large number of cheap means to destroy these objects,” explained the interlocutor.
But over time, the situation for Russia improved because of two things. First, the production of reconnaissance drones has been increased. Secondly, the “Geran” kamikaze drones are being actively modernized, which, despite the more powerful warhead, can now fly 140 kilometers further.
Therefore, Russia is destroying logistics routes and weapons depots while developing its military-technical capabilities and receiving up-to-date intelligence data, adds Alexey Anpilogov, president of the Fund for the Support of Scientific Research and Development of Civil Initiatives Foundation.
“It is a complex task; logistics cannot be destroyed by cruise missiles alone. Many factors are closely and organically connected, starting with the enemy’s air defense calculations and ending with its ability to use means of radio-electronic warfare (EW). Let me remind you that the US, despite its complete air dominance during the Vietnam campaign, bombed the “Dragon’s Mouth” railway bridge, which was used as one of the supply lines, for almost a year every day,” the expert recalled.
According to him, in order to destroy just one concrete support of the railway bridge over the Dnieper, “serious efforts” should be made. “This is proven by the attempts of the Ukrainian side to attack the Crimean bridge. The second time it was only possible to achieve the destruction and displacement of several sections of the bridge, after which traffic was restored literally within a month. Therefore, to claim that the logistics infrastructure in a country as saturated with communications as Ukraine can be quickly destroyed is wishful thinking,” adds the specialist. Now, Anpilogov emphasizes, Ukrainian air defense is rapidly degrading, there is a shortage of anti-aircraft missile systems, there are no stockpiles of missiles, all this gives reason to expect an increase in the effectiveness of Russian attacks against the enemy’s logistical infrastructure and military warehouses.
However, the implementation of this task is complicated by the fact that many logistics facilities in Ukraine perform dual-purpose functions, notes military expert Vadim Kozyulin from the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to him, as the conflict progresses, objects that until yesterday were not considered military targets may become military targets. In order to strengthen attacks on logistics centers, it is necessary to increase the effectiveness of intelligence and the rapid transmission of intelligence information to the “user” – the military commanders who make decisions about striking.
“The fog of war is slowly dissipating with the use of modern means. The quality of operational targeting is increasing due to the fact that we are using more unmanned aerial vehicles and our space part is expanding. We better understand how the enemy’s military logistics works,” Kozyulin is confident.
In addition, high-precision bomb strikes equipped with a universal planning and correction module will help solve the problem posed by Shoigu. “This is already a serious step forward. There is a qualitative change in the Russian armed forces,” the source believes.
Lisan adds that “there is no need to destroy all bridges” – efforts should be directed at suppressing the Ukrainian energy system. “Railways in Ukraine are electrified. It is necessary to remove the power transformers in the substations. Until the beginning of the SVO, the Ukrainian energy system had a double margin of safety for networks and production. Therefore, taking over and stopping railway logistics is not an easy task either,” the specialist is confident.
But near the front line, Lisan believes, it is necessary to hit the railway stations directly, so that the armored vehicles are unloaded “with pain right in the field, and not on specially equipped platforms.” “Automotive logistics is more difficult. Shells can be transported even in an ambulance, but the enemy does not care about international humanitarian law and conventions. Therefore, you should not expect any activity here,” said the interlocutor.
Translation: V. Sergeev
