The Failed Logistics of Russia's Invasion of Ukraine

Please keep in mind that this comments section is very likely to have disinformation actors/trolls due to the nature of this conflict. It's likely not representative of actual opinions.

“Infantry wins battles, logistics wins wars” All hail Lord General Amazon

They aren’t sanctions. They’re special economic operations.

The logistics "push" approach is a holdover from the Soviet-era doctrine of planning everything centrally. Civilian supplies were planned five years at a time, so the military was positively speedy in comparison

Or to put it into words of a NATO analyst: Russian military is designed to defend the country. And so relying for example on its rail network makes sense. But it's not good for offensive actions. The US military is the opposite: It's built to attack other countries, no matter where on the planet. And they have the experience to do so. It's also quite logical from an historical point of view how their militaries developed during the last centuries. I wouldn't say that very western country would be better with logistics, it's also a matter of experience and they're pretty dependend on each others (just think about the retreat from Afghanistan - hardly a logistical masterpiece). Of course there are also other factors, like stricter hierarchy within the Russian military, different approach to morale and training. So it's not a good military for invading other countries and having to fight there for a long time. And when intelligence fails and the leaders think it'll be just a short trip without resistence failure is imminent. Invading Russia on the other side might be hard for any attacker. Maybe they should've sticked to defense...

When there's logistics and supply chain involved, you know this is the go-to channel!

Excellent summary! “Amateurs think tactics, professionals think logistics.” Thank-you for pulling together all these bits of information.

"Infantry wins battles, Logistics wins wars" -John Perishing

First rule of attacking another country: Never assume the best case. Shit will go wrong. Enemy troops will fight harder than expected. Expect and plan for the worst case. If the worst case does not occur, you can be happily surprised!

This is better produced than half the docs I've seen on any war, let alone one that's currently going on.

An important video that masterfully breaks down two complex topics to the masses: 1) the importance of logistics 2) the stupidity of filming vertically

Awesome video very well done making the complex subject of military logistics simple. Great Job Guys!

I remember studying WW2 at school. WW2 in Europe was won by a combination of materiel & logistics support into Europe, and Russian ability to move their forces within the borders of Russia - coupled with the harsh winter in Eastern Europe plains (Ukraine & Western Russia). It seems nothing has changed. US can ship its materiel very effectively globally (good for empire building) Russia is focused within its borders. (Good for defense of 'motherland')

Wendover always managed to make Logistics endlessly fascinating and relevant.

And if a YouTuber can put this all together, imagine what the intelligence community is making of it!

There is a supposed story from WW2 where an Axis soldiers and his buddies captured a shipment of US supplies, and found it contained various baked goods, shipped from the US in a short time and still fresh. And the soldier said he realized that if the US had the logistic resources to rush ship cup cakes and pies to their troops, while his side struggled to even supply ammo or fuel without huge delays…..that their side was doomed.

And now Russia abandoned all position North and Northeast of Kiev in something that can only described as "humiliating retreat"

After seeing all the dash cams and cameras capturing the train carrying tank and trucks alike, I was utterly stunned by the fact that they were preparing for the invasion years prior to today.

And this is why YouTube is so successful, people like you who are able to create such great content that the regular tv just fails to get right at all today!

When Amazon has better logistics than the Russian military