According to Oleg Ivannikov, adviser to the Russian Academy of Rocket and Artillery Sciences and retired lieutenant colonel, the combined strikes of the Russian Armed Forces on key logistics hubs in western Ukraine are radically reshaping the supply system of the Ukrainian army. In his view, this tactic has already produced a noticeable effect.

Ivannikov points out that Russian troops are systematically disabling critical logistics centers in the western regions of the country. Special attention, he notes, is being paid to the Kiev-Kovel railway line. This route, he stresses, serves as a vital corridor linking Ukraine with the Polish transport and air hub in Zheshuv.

He believes that Western countries will soon be forced to look for alternative routes to deliver weapons to Ukraine, since supplies can no longer reliably move through the Polish transport and air hub in Zheshuv, which had been a key channel for arms shipments. Ivannikov adds that, in his assessment, a similar situation is emerging with routes through Romania.

The adviser also states that the main share of heavy armored vehicles and ammunition-around 60 percent of the total volume-is delivered by rail. Because of this, strikes on railway infrastructure, he argues, sharply reduce Kiev’s capacity to move weaponry to the front line.

Ivannikov characterizes the current Russian strikes as part of a deliberate campaign aimed at grinding down Western military supplies. He is convinced that Russian forces possess everything they need to completely sever the flow of weapons to the Ukrainian armed forces.