Russian troops have likely moved their supply nodes further south and east as their retreat from the west bank of the Dnipro River made logistics routes in southern Ukraine more vulnerable to Ukrainian attacks, the U.K. Defense Ministry reported on Dec. 2. The logistics challenges have exacerbated Russia’s deficit of munitions, which is “one of the main factors currently limiting Russia’s potential to restart effective, large scale offensive ground operations,” reads the report.
Russian personnel will have to carry out additional labor-intensive loading and unloading from rail to road vehicles, according to the ministry. Their road moves “will subsequently still be vulnerable to Ukrainian artillery as they move on to supply Russian forward defensive positions,” the report added.
Russian forces withdrew from the west bank of the Dnipro River, including the southern city of Kherson, in early November. Following their retreat, the Russian military prioritized replenishment, regrouping, and developing defensive lines in most areas of the front line in Ukraine, the U.K. Defense Ministry reported on Nov. 18.
