Ukraine decimates Russian logistics, bringing chaos to Crimea
Kyiv has circumvented air defences to target oil supplies, power stations, weapons convoys and bridges, starving the Russian front line. Ukraine’s disruption of Russian battlefield
Kyiv has circumvented air defences to target oil supplies, power stations, weapons convoys and bridges, starving the Russian front line. Ukraine’s disruption of Russian battlefield logistics escalated in the past week, with dramatic attacks on Russian-occupied Crimea and satellite communications centres near Moscow – two regions where Russia is supposedly prioritising air defence. In response to Ukrainian attacks deep inside the Russian heartland this year, Russia had relocated air defence systems from the regions to Moscow and the Kerch Bridge, which connects Crimea to the Russian mainland, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday. “These two perimeters are the ones the Russians have been ordered to defend at the expense of weakening other directions,” he said. The Kremlin had moved “hundreds of launchers for S-400, S-500, and Pantsir (missile launch) systems to the Moscow region alone”, Zelenskyy said, and another 90 to Valdai, a resort 450km (280 miles) north of Moscow where Russian President Vladimir Putin and much of the Russian elite are said to go on retreat. “In all other regions of Russia, there are only a few launchers each,” Zelenskyy said. Ukraine appeared to take advantage of those choices when it aimed at two Russian military satellite communication centres on June 22. Ukraine’s General Staff said the Vladimir Space Communications Centre, 200km (125 miles) east of Moscow, had “critically damaged” its main, 25-metre (82ft) parabolic antenna, and a strike on the Dubna Space Communications Centre 100km (60 miles) north of Moscow on the same day had damaged its 32-metre (105ft) parabolic antenna. In both cases, buildings housing electronic hardware were also damaged. Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia relies on satellite feeds from the two centres to spy on Ukrainian manoeuvres and coordinate Russian forces.
In Crimea, Ukraine interrupted fuel supply, caused power outages and cut off transport between the peninsula and the Russian mainland on Sunday. Ukraine used long-range drones to simultaneously hit two important oil facilities on either side of the Kerch Strait, which separates Crimea from Russia – the oil terminal in Kerch on Crimea and the port of Kavkaz in Russia. The facilities are used to ferry fuel to the Russian front lines. Geolocated footage showed oil storage facilities in Kerch and supply ferries in Kavkaz on fire. Ukraine managed to disable four S-400 missile complexes and two Pantsir systems to strike Kerch, which is less than 1km (0.6 miles) from the heavily defended Kerch Bridge. Ukraine also struck electricity plants, causing power cuts in Sevastopol, Yevpatoria and other parts of Crimea on Sunday and Wednesday. Crimean occupation Governor Sergey Aksyonov immediately suspended fuel sales to all but state services. In Sevastopol, the largest Crimean city, fuel had already been rationed to 20 litres (5 gallons) per week for private individuals. Sevastopol also cancelled ferry services, banned outdoor gatherings and switched off street lighting. Kyiv’s forces started attacking Crimea in the summer of 2023, after Russia began using it as a base from which to launch air attacks, missiles and drones against Ukraine. They succeeded in pushing back the Russian navy and air force, and Crimea as “a graveyard” for Russian air defence systems. This year, Ukraine launched an air campaign to weaken the Russian ability to deliver force to the front line by hobbling supplies of weapons, fuel and other supplies. Ukraine ‘succeeded’ Russian independent newspaper Meduza plotted 270 attacks on Russian trucks and logistics centres this year, and found a stark difference in range in the past two months.
The BriefWire