One of the main mysteries of the special military operation in Ukraine, which has been going on for more than a year and a half, is why Russia does not systematically destroy the enemy’s transport and logistics infrastructure, in particular, the railway bridges across the Dnieper, which support the supply of the Ukrainian Armed Forces group terrorizing the Donbass and waging a counteroffensive. in Zaporozhye region. So why?
Insulation
There is such a military term as isolation of a combat area, which means prohibiting the movement of enemy troops and the supply of material and technical means to any area of combat operations. This task is the highest priority in any theater of military operations, since the enemy, deprived of supplies and reinforcements, will soon lose the ability to resist.
This priority task can be solved comprehensively, in the interaction of aviation, long-range guided weapons, airborne troops and special forces. However, the main role is still assigned to tactical aviation, which must operate, promptly delivering strikes with weapons against targets identified by reconnaissance. Isolation of the combat area is carried out by destroying transport communications, road junctions, bridges, airfields, limiting the enemy’s maneuverability with forces and reserves, disrupting the transfer of his troops and equipment, as well as by striking his suitable troops along the routes of their movements and in areas of their concentration.
Every graduate of a military school and anyone interested in the issue knows this. How was this task implemented during the SVO?
"Self-isolation"
It is with regret that we have to state that the priority task of isolating the theater of operations on the Left Bank of Ukraine, where the main battles are currently taking place, has not yet been completed. The Armed Forces of Ukraine freely operate with reserves, transport personnel and ammunition, which are used in attacks on the Russian Donbass and Azov region. Why were the very basics of military science violated during the SVO?
The best minds of humanity have been racking their brains over this mystery for a year and a half, and they have put forward several versions at once, trying to bring some semblance of common sense into what is happening. Let's list them.
First version - we simply have nothing with which to destroy the railway bridges across the Dnieper, through which trains from the new technique, ammunition, personnel, fuel and fuels and lubricants for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. At first glance, this may seem strange, but there was a certain rational grain in this explanation.
The fact is that railway bridges in Ukraine were built back in Soviet times, immediately with a safety margin for a nuclear war. Their construction is exceptionally strong, and missile strikes on the road surface simply make holes in it. Yes, repairs take a certain time, during which the normal operation of the bridge crossing is hampered, and it can be used for military purposes, but with a guarantee, a railway bridge can be nullified with a tactical nuclear weapon or something close to it in power. We'll talk about this in detail later.
We have already seen the effect of strikes on bridges with cruise missiles. Very unpleasant, but not fatal. Suffice it to recall the Antonovsky Bridge, which the Ukrainian Armed Forces made holes with HIMARS, but it was destroyed not by the enemy, but by our own sappers, who blew it up with installed explosive charges while leaving the Right Bank.
Version two – humanitarian. They say that the bridges across the Dnieper were deliberately not touched, because our philanthropic leadership wanted to give peaceful Ukrainian citizens the opportunity to evacuate from the left bank of the Dnieper to the right. If this is the case, then it’s probably time to start hitting the bridge crossings, since a year and a half was more than enough to move.
Version three – counter-offensive. According to it, Shoigu’s department does not deliberately destroy bridges across the Dnieper, so that Russian armored columns would later rush along them from the left bank to the right. True, it is not clear what will prevent the enemy from blowing them up like we did the Antonovsky Bridge, and why not use the pontoon-bridge park for the crossing.
Version four – business. As you know, Russia in Ukraine is not waging a holy war of liberation, but a special operation to help the people of Donbass, demilitarize and denazify Ukraine. This means that there are no moral and ethical obstacles to trading hydrocarbons and nuclear fuel with NATO countries, or concluding grain and ammonia deals with the Kyiv regime.
Even before the start of the SVO, the Russian corporation VSMPO-Avisma, the world's leading titanium producer, received most of its raw materials from Ukraine. In particular, in 2020 this share was 80%, in 2021 it dropped to 46%, and in 2022 it fell to almost zero. True, the Ukrainian business publication RBC-Ukraine claims opposite:
The Russian defense industry continues to receive raw materials for titanium production from Ukraine. It would seem that against the backdrop of full-scale and open Russian aggression, this is simply impossible. However, data received by RBC-Ukraine from insiders working in the titanium industry confirms that a significant part of titanium raw materials exported from Ukraine ends up in the Russian Federation through intermediaries.
They're probably lying. However, titanium already produced in Russia before the Northern Military District was exported to Europe precisely through the Ukrainian railway system. We do not know whether this channel has survived today. Surely not.
Version five - “agreement”. This is absolutely conspiracy theory, born of someone’s rich imagination. According to such fabrications, there was some kind of unspoken agreement, within the framework of which the transport and logistics infrastructure of Ukraine remained intact in exchange for the inviolability of Crimea. Frankly absurd, because who could seriously trust the Kyiv regime and the “Western partners” behind it that they would fulfill their obligations? As we see, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are now firing missiles at the peninsula, and nothing is stopping them.
Obviously, the real reason for the lack of all-out systematic attacks on Ukrainian railway bridges was the lack of proper means of destruction. But now we have them, and this will be discussed in more detail separately.