The key to winning wars is successful logistics. That is why, Yigal Levin, an Israel Defense Forces officer, wrote for the Ukrainian military an interesting article on the operational logistics of the Russians. He raised points that can also help enhance civilian understanding of the situation at the front.
The logistics of the Russian army are divided into three important stages with their own characteristics:
1. To military warehouses.
2. To the line of contact.
3. To the front line.
The first stage is to military warehouses
After the delivery of equipment, weapons, and shells, they are taken to warehouses not less than 100 km from the front line. Military warehouses are located in this way, because closer they would be vulnerable to high-precision means of destruction of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Transportation is carried out by echelons, by rail, and by trucks.
The second stage is to the contact line
Ideally, the army “Urals” is the transport for this. But there is a catastrophic lack of them, so in practice, it can even be passenger cars, motorcycles, or motor blocks, which are most often taken from the local population. In the second stage, the cargo is delivered no closer than 2 km from the front line, although there were cases when this distance was reduced to only 500 and even 300 m. If there are rivers or reservoirs nearby, boats and even homemade rafts are used.
The third stage is delivery to the front line
Unarmed soldiers deliver goods directly to the front line, carry them on their backs or pull them on the ground. The number of people can be from a few people to several hundred. Sometimes the movement is carried out in groups, and sometimes – separately.
Dilemma
Such a logistics system was used in the following directions:
– Bakhmut;
– Svatovo;
– Kreminna.
At the same time, the Ukrainian command faces a dilemma: how not to use the entire supply of ammunition, eliminating every soldier who carries the equipment when they are moved separately.
The reason for the success
This was the reason for certain successes in the Bakhmut direction, although very slow. Even if most of the soldiers are eliminated in the third stage of logistics, someone will reach the front line and bring shells. But, with such a system, human losses are incredibly high.
This logistics system is primitive but effective. It is ineffective when it comes to large tank, artillery, and mechanized units, which require echelons of trucks, refueling stations, etc. to supply them.
