Guest Post by Moon of Alabama
On June 24 the (acting) president of Ukraine Vladimir Zelinski announced a 40-day campaign:
The campaign was launched while life in Kiev was still relative peaceful. Russian attacks were aimed at industrial sites but tried to avoid civilian targets. Ukrainian im- and exports via Odessa harbor were fully functional. The whole country had sufficient energy supplies.
During the campaign the Ukrainian forces used drones to attack Russia’s oil industry. Strikes on power installations in Crimea, Moscow and St. Peterburg followed. Ukraine soon added all Russian shipping and harbor installations in the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea to its target list. Last but not least it started to strike at purely civilian targets in Russia like the warehouses of Wildberry, the Russian Amazon.
The campaign was designed to influence Russian politics as well as Ukraine’s supporters in the West:
Zelenski’s campaign however did not take into account that Russia could react and would hit back.
The Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries, intended to create transport problems for Russia, were responded to by drone attacks on Ukrainian gas stations. More than 300 of those throughout the country’s east have been destroyed by Russian drone strikes. Additionally, Russian forces targeted Ukraine’s railways. So far nearly 500 locomotives have been destroyed or damaged.
Both measures have made the re-supply of Ukrainian front line groupings increasingly difficult.
Attacks on Russian related shipping in the Azov and Black Sea were likewise mirrored.
All ships trying to exit or reach Ukrainian harbors came under attack. A missile and bombing campaign destroyed Ukrainian grain export terminals and other harbor installations. For all practical purpose the country is now land locked.
Metallurgical plants in Ukraine have shut down because of damage and the lack of export facilities. Revenues from wheat exports are down to near zero:
But it were the attacks on civilian warehouses in Russia which have received the harshest response. Russia launched a devastating campaign to eliminate Ukrainian warehouses in and around Kiev. About 90% of commercial storage capacity, as well as its content, has been destroyed:
Despite the official claims several major retail chains in Kiev reported a lack of basic goods.
On top of all the damaged caused in response to the 40-days campaign a new phase of Russian strike is now again aimed at energy targets:
The much intensified Russian air campaign continues. By now the Kiev region has been under sustained attack for more than 60 hours. There is a lack of air defenses against missiles. The old method of shooting down drones with machines guns no longer works against the latest version of fast jet-powered drones.
Zelenski’s 40-day campaign against Russia was very expensive. The long-range drones used in mass against Russia were purchased at exaggerated prices. The campaign was financed by robbing the defense ministry’s financial reserves for troop payments. In total the Ukrainian defense budget for this year now lacks $27 billion:
The 40-day campaign to ‘influence Russia’ did work – though not in the intended direction.
Instead of be cowered into peace talks the people of Russia took it as an incentive to end the war on their terms.
While Kiev, for the first time during the war, has come under sustained attacks, the situation on the front line is also getting more precarious. Russian troops seem to have no problems to infiltrate and act miles behind Ukrainian lines.
Ukrainian troops are stuck in impossible positions, with no way out:
Given the Russian supremacy in fire power, it is a wonder that these men are still alive.
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[ H/T The Burning Platform ]
On June 24 the (acting) president of Ukraine Vladimir Zelinski announced a 40-day campaign:
The campaign was launched while life in Kiev was still relative peaceful. Russian attacks were aimed at industrial sites but tried to avoid civilian targets. Ukrainian im- and exports via Odessa harbor were fully functional. The whole country had sufficient energy supplies.
During the campaign the Ukrainian forces used drones to attack Russia’s oil industry. Strikes on power installations in Crimea, Moscow and St. Peterburg followed. Ukraine soon added all Russian shipping and harbor installations in the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea to its target list. Last but not least it started to strike at purely civilian targets in Russia like the warehouses of Wildberry, the Russian Amazon.
The campaign was designed to influence Russian politics as well as Ukraine’s supporters in the West:
Zelenski’s campaign however did not take into account that Russia could react and would hit back.
The Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries, intended to create transport problems for Russia, were responded to by drone attacks on Ukrainian gas stations. More than 300 of those throughout the country’s east have been destroyed by Russian drone strikes. Additionally, Russian forces targeted Ukraine’s railways. So far nearly 500 locomotives have been destroyed or damaged.
Both measures have made the re-supply of Ukrainian front line groupings increasingly difficult.
Attacks on Russian related shipping in the Azov and Black Sea were likewise mirrored.
All ships trying to exit or reach Ukrainian harbors came under attack. A missile and bombing campaign destroyed Ukrainian grain export terminals and other harbor installations. For all practical purpose the country is now land locked.
Metallurgical plants in Ukraine have shut down because of damage and the lack of export facilities. Revenues from wheat exports are down to near zero:
But it were the attacks on civilian warehouses in Russia which have received the harshest response. Russia launched a devastating campaign to eliminate Ukrainian warehouses in and around Kiev. About 90% of commercial storage capacity, as well as its content, has been destroyed:
Despite the official claims several major retail chains in Kiev reported a lack of basic goods.
On top of all the damaged caused in response to the 40-days campaign a new phase of Russian strike is now again aimed at energy targets:
The much intensified Russian air campaign continues. By now the Kiev region has been under sustained attack for more than 60 hours. There is a lack of air defenses against missiles. The old method of shooting down drones with machines guns no longer works against the latest version of fast jet-powered drones.
Zelenski’s 40-day campaign against Russia was very expensive. The long-range drones used in mass against Russia were purchased at exaggerated prices. The campaign was financed by robbing the defense ministry’s financial reserves for troop payments. In total the Ukrainian defense budget for this year now lacks $27 billion:
The 40-day campaign to ‘influence Russia’ did work – though not in the intended direction.
Instead of be cowered into peace talks the people of Russia took it as an incentive to end the war on their terms.
While Kiev, for the first time during the war, has come under sustained attacks, the situation on the front line is also getting more precarious. Russian troops seem to have no problems to infiltrate and act miles behind Ukrainian lines.
Ukrainian troops are stuck in impossible positions, with no way out:
Given the Russian supremacy in fire power, it is a wonder that these men are still alive.
Tweet
Continue reading...
[ H/T The Burning Platform ]
