Posted on 06/14/2022 7:57:26 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
Russian forces have advanced in eastern Ukraine over recent weeks behind overwhelming artillery barrages, a shift in fortunes made possible by better access to rail lines delivering tons of ammunition and other supplies.
Trains are the Russian military’s go-to method for moving troops and heavy weapons. In Ukraine’s industrialized Donbas region, dense rail networks have played to Moscow’s advantage.
Russia’s military depends so heavily on trains that it maintains an elite Railroad Force, a service branch once common in countries through World War II. The unit has camouflage-painted armored train cars equipped with antiaircraft cannons and artillery to guard supply trains, and its troops are trained to repair bombed tracks while under enemy fire. Russia’s Defense Ministry said it has restored 750 miles of track in the land corridor it now controls in Ukraine’s southeast.
“Even if Ukrainians destroy rail lines, it will just slow the Russians, not stop them,” said Alex Vershinin, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who has analyzed Russian military logistics.
But Russia’s heavy reliance on train transport, a 19th-century technology, reveals critical gaps in its logistics, the coordinated transfer of supplies. Russia’s struggle to supply troops away from rail lines has slowed its invasion and contributed to catastrophic failures in its early offensives to take Kyiv and Kharkiv. It could also shape the conflict going forward.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
What’s wrong with railways? They are cheaper than trucks, and carry huge amounts of cargo.
It seems like sabotaging a track is easier than sabotaging a road. Trains are more predictable, and can be derailed. They certainly have their place, but a lead role in war in the 21st century does NOT come to mind, unless you have overwhelming support to protect the entire rail line.
The premise of this article is a bit silly. Railroads are the most efficient method to transport large amounts of equipment over land - which is why we use railroads whenever possible to move our own military equipment to/from seaports. Truck transport is far less efficient than rail, requiring more fuel and manpower to move heavy/bulky vehicles, equipment and cargo, so armies use trucks to haul from railheads to end users. Wherever railroads are available, they are a godsend to military logistics.
During WW2 the U.S. sent over 3,000 steam and diesel locomotives, specially built for Russian gauge, to the USSR. The Red Army had better frontline supplies than the Allies in France as we had all but demolished the French railway system and depended on the Red Ball Express. With the Russians returning to their WW2 roots it is no surprise that a WW2 transport system should not be supplying that return.
“The 19th-Century Technology Driving Russia’s Latest Gains in Ukraine: Railroads”
Well!!! We have 20th Century Technology for our Drones and Munitions - it’s called GPS. It was BRILLIANTLY thought up by our geniuses in the Pentagon.
(I won’t mention that Russia also has 21st technology called GPS Jammers and Spoofers, that render much of our high-tech hardware next to useless there)
a lead role in war in the 21st century does NOT come to mind, unless you have overwhelming support to protect the entire rail line.”
Or your enemy doesn’t have the ability to disrupt it.
During the Russian revolution the armies worked, lived, traveled,and fought by train.
Standard gauge in that region is 1520mm.
Used in:
Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armeria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Mongolia, Finland (Grand Duchy of Russia in the 19th century), Peak Cable car (Hong Kong, China)
Note that Russia and Ukraine use the same.
The “earliest” use of railroads for warfare were observed by foreign generals during the Civil War on both sides. The North had around 21000 miles of rail lines vs 9000 in the South, and how they were being used to haul in troops and food.
The Prussians had “guest” observers on both sides, North and South, and applied the logistics during the Franco Prussian War 1870.
Trains seem to be working better for them than The Convoy Of Sitting Duck Tanks did.
They only go to predetermined places and don’t have much if any flexibility in the moment.
With our Forty billion that we gave them, they can’t figure out how to disable these railway lines?
Henceforth, all Polish jokes should be made Ukrainian jokes.
Their stupid president leads the pack in dumbness and vulgarity.
I suspect that the campaign until recently has been run by the equivalent of their second or third string team. Not great logistics, bad planning; one indicator I’d seen was that almost all the destroyed tanks were old models not updated to the latest spec (which critically didn’t have the active anti-tank-munition protection systems we *know* they have on their front line models). Leadership was also not up to par for what we know they can do - and saw them do in Syria.
It looks like they started the war expecting a walkover possibly due to a massive intel failure, so they didn’t commit their heavy hitters or frontline equipment. It takes time to adjust your position on that and bring up those other units, assemble them with their equipment and send them out (note the buildup that had to occur before we could go into Iraq in the first Gulf War).
I’ve seen nothing trustworthy coming out of Ukraine to indicate otherwise. I have been waiting to see if they would get their actual first line forces in, and I think this and the new artillery campaign is an indicator that this is happening.
But Russia’s heavy reliance on train transport, a 19th-century technology, reveals critical gaps in its logistics, the coordinated transfer of supplies. Russia’s struggle to supply troops away from rail lines has slowed its invasion and contributed to catastrophic failures in its early offensives to take Kyiv and Kharkiv.
This is total BS.
There was no attempt to TAKE Kiev or Kharkiv.
There was an attempt to tie up the Ukrainian forces which resulted in easy capture of the entire Kherson province as well as large chunks of 4 other provinces. That succeeded perfectly.
I suspect there was also an attempt to induce Ukes into an quick surrender — that did not work, but this has nothing to do with railroads.
They just announced they have successfully repaired all the road and rail for their now completed land bridge from Russia to Crimea and have now protected it with layered air cover. They expect it to significantly increase their mobility and supply logistics.
Though apparently they have been doing surprisingly well without it.
NEZYGAR
The level of real irretrievable losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has crossed all critical levels so much that the office of President Zelensky is forced to spend about €3.5 million daily to disavow these shocks among the population and the European audience.
€2 million goes to Euronews and smaller European media from Germany, France, Italy and Poland, €1 million goes to LOM and TG channels from the Baltics, the near-political establishment of Ukraine and the CIS countries, the rest is distributed to premiums and bonuses for functionaries of the 95th quarter.
According to MI6 data, which were handed over to the European Commissioners and European deputies, the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine amount to 176,000 killed and 41,000 seriously wounded on June 1, 22, without the possibility of returning to the theater, about 38,000 are considered missing.
According to the BND and the Polish intelligence services, which were shown at a closed briefing before the NATO summit, Ukraine’s losses in killed on the battlefield, plus the accompanying losses of civilians, exceeded 210 thousand people by 06/10/22.
According to NATO experts, as well as on the analysis of the NSA, which monitor social networks and special groups of mothers-wives-native Ukrainian soldiers, the losses range from 110 thousand to 197 thousand people, where the proportion of dead and missing is 45% to 55%.
The loss of military equipment and ammunition, as well as new types of weapons and unmanned aircraft, is 73%, and the shortage of fuel and lubricants has grown to 58% among BTGs on the front line of the line of contact.
163.8Kviews
23:50
NEZYGAR
forwarded from
Image of the future
According to Nezygar about the losses of Ukraine, everything is 100% correct, even the dates, and the most interesting thing is that Ursula von der Leyen knew about this when she came to Kiev. Zelensky told her that he would consider the figure of 400-450 thousand people to be critical, and this will happen at the current level of losses no earlier than March 2023.
The BND and the NATO Ground Forces Command believe that by August 1, the level of losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be more than 268,000, and the front line will pass through the Nikolaev and Kharkov regions, and this is without taking into account a possible strike by Belarusian forces from the north. If Lukashenka’s army is connected, the supply of theater of operations on the right side of the Dnieper will drop by 90-95%, moreover, the delivery of fuel and lubricants will become impossible for the civilian population and the harvesting campaign.
Boy have you ever got that right.
They were so giddy about blowing the livin shit out of the rail systems that when they finally realized that maybe we should not have done that, it was to late.
Does my heart good to see some on here that post factual information/history.
“There was no attempt to TAKE Kiev or Karkiv.”
‘ZACTLY !
Putin doesn’t want or care about Kiev. He wants Donbas and corridor to Crimea.
because I have Civil War for Dummies beside me j/k
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.