While attention remains fixed on the front lines, a second and potentially decisive war is unfolding deep behind Russian positions. Ukraine is systematically targeting supply routes, rail hubs, fuel depots, and logistics networks across occupied territories, turning once-secure corridors into deadly choke points. From Crimea to Mariupol, drones and long-range strikes are disrupting Russia’s ability to sustain its forces. This episode examines the logistics war that could ultimately determine the conflict’s outcome.
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00:00Much of the reporting on the Russia-Ukraine war focuses exclusively on the front lines.
00:04There are regular stories about one side or the other gaining ground or capturing a contested
00:09settlement, with analysts poring over statistics concerning each side's territorial gains and
00:14losses. But this war is not just being fought at the front. There is in fact a second war,
00:20taking place many miles back, deep in the occupied territories of Ukraine, like Kherson
00:25and Crimea. It's a war that arguably matters much more than the fight for frontline control,
00:30because it has a much greater influence over each side's long-term prospects of victory.
00:35It's a war that Russia is losing, and the evidence is clear to see.
00:40Once safe roads are now turning into highways from hell, long-standing supply lines are being severed,
00:46connections are being cut, convoys are being burned, and movements are being stifled by drones and
00:52missiles and surprise strikes that nobody could have predicted or prepared for. Bit by bit,
00:58Russia's ability to feed the front lines, to fuel its massive military machine, and to wage this war
01:04are being eradicated by Ukraine. This is the war behind the war, and to understand why it matters
01:10so much, we have to first understand a golden rule about modern conflicts. They're not necessarily one
01:15by the side that has more tanks, soldiers, or other assets, but by the side that masters the art of
01:21moving those assets around efficiently. As the legendary US General Omar Bradley once allegedly
01:26said, amateurs talk strategy, professionals talk logistics. Especially in a conflict that has
01:33lasted as long as this one, logistics matter just as much as overall firepower. If Russia wants to
01:39keep up the pressure on Ukraine along the hundreds of miles of frontline territories, it needs to be
01:44able to safely move troops to those territories. But that's not all. It also needs means of transporting
01:50other important supplies, such as weapons and ammunition. Repair teams need to be able to get
01:55to places where tanks and armored vehicles have been damaged. Medical teams need to be able to move
02:00into dangerous areas to evacuate wounded soldiers. Fuel has to continuously flow to the front,
02:06so Russia's assault squads are actually able to keep their vehicles running and execute their attack
02:10plans. Behind every frontline force, there has to be a vast and complex network of logistics and
02:16supply chains to feed and maintain it. And if that network collapses or is even disrupted,
02:22everything else falls down around it. Without those supply lines to feed it, any army becomes
02:28dramatically weaker, opening up opportunities for its opponent to strike back. This is why,
02:33even though the frontline firefights matter and territorial control statistics matter too,
02:38this war isn't just about which sides controls which patches of land. Not anymore. Now,
02:44into its fifth year, it's becoming more and more about which side can actually sustain its operations
02:49and outlast the other. It has become a conflict of endurance, and Ukraine understands that. It
02:55realizes that it doesn't necessarily need to destroy every Russian tank if it can instead ensure that
03:01those tanks don't have the fuel they need to move. It doesn't need to kill every Russian soldier
03:05if it can sever the lines that keep them fed. And so it's shifted away from targeting individual
03:11battlefield units towards attacking the overall system that powers and connects them.
03:16It's a shift that could prove decisive, because we've seen how logistics can make or break even
03:21the strongest militaries before. Many times, in fact, all throughout history. The famous French
03:26Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, for example, learned how crucial logistics could be the hard way when he
03:31marched his great army into Russia, anticipating a swift victory. After all, he had assembled one of the
03:37most powerful fighting forces that Europe, if not the world, had ever seen. But the deeper his army
03:43got into Russia, the more strain was placed on its supply lines. Eventually, those lines were simply
03:48stretched too far and inevitably snapped. Food supplies began to dwindle. The flow of ammunition
03:54to the front wasn't fast enough. Horses died, and the harsh winter conditions made everything more
03:59difficult. The Germans endured a similar nightmare during the Second World War. Again, this occurred in Russia,
04:04where the Nazi forces rushed into Soviet territory, hoping that their blitzkrieg tactics, which were
04:09so reliant on speed and momentum, would prove too much for the enemy to cope with. But the further
04:14they went, the harder it became to maintain those all-important supply lines. And all of a sudden,
04:19even the most fearsome military force in the world was forced to wave the white flag in Stalingrad.
04:25In modern settings, too, logistics remain the bedrock of every successful military. The United States'
04:31success during Operation Desert Storm, for instance, wasn't just down to the fact that it had better
04:36trained troops and superior equipment. It was also because the US forces found the most effective
04:40and intelligent ways to move vast quantities of fuel, ammo, and other supplies, even in difficult
04:46desert conditions. Modern conflicts like that, and like the war in Ukraine, consume resources at a
04:52remarkable rate, making logistics and supply chains more important than ever. To not only exert pressure
04:58along the front, but also maintain control in the territories that it's captured, Russia has been
05:03forced to build and rely on an intricate web of rail hubs, depots, convoys, command posts, and transport
05:09corridors. And those are the very targets that Ukraine is committed to destroying. Recent weeks
05:15and months have seen numerous successful strikes across the occupied territories and even beyond,
05:20targeting the logistical nodes Russia needs the most. Ammo depots have been set ablaze,
05:26rail hubs have been obliterated. Road networks have fallen under siege by Ukrainian drones hovering
05:32overhead, scanning the ground, just waiting for the first sign of a Russian convoy to come into view
05:37before raining fire down upon it. But Ukraine isn't stopping there. It's ready to ramp up the
05:43pressure with the country's own Defense Minister Mikhailo Fedorov announcing a so-called logistics lockdown
05:49campaign on May 27th. In a detailed telegram post on his official account, Fedorov revealed that this
05:55will be a two-stage program, designed to scale up middle strike and systematically destroy Russian
06:01capabilities at operational depth. Our task is to further increase pressure on the Russians in the
06:06rear and deprive them of the ability to conduct active assault operations. The first phase of the
06:11logistics lockdown is all about funding. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense is injecting a whopping 5 billion
06:17Ukrainian rovinas, which will be used to purchase more impactful middle strike weapons for targeting
06:23Russian logistical nodes many miles behind the front lines. These weapons include the likes of FP2,
06:29Hornet and Bulava drones, which are capable of traveling longer distances and remaining in the
06:34air longer than other models. Some boast operational ranges of up to 200 kilometers or 125 miles.
06:40They're also often able to operate autonomously once they enter enemy territory, using their own AI brains
06:46to scour the terrain and identify targets, rather than having to rely on human pilots to guide them.
06:52More of Ukraine's units will soon receive these weapons, but not all of them. Fedorov revealed that
06:56the Ministry is operating on a reward-based system, where only the very best brigades get to use the
07:01latest and greatest weapons. The funds will be received by the most effective brigades and units
07:06according to the E-Point system. Teams that specialize in destroying the enemy at operational depth and
07:11demonstrate the best results in this specific area. The first units have already received funds and
07:16direct procurement has begun. It's a logical decision. Middle strike weapons cost more to make than
07:21cheaper FPV drones and Ukraine doesn't have an infinite supply of funds to work with. It's always
07:26operated in a resourceful way, using the assets at its disposal with care and consideration to ensure
07:32that nothing goes to waste. There wouldn't be much sense, therefore, in handing out these weapons to
07:36units that can't necessarily make the most of them. However, by handing them to the best performing
07:41brigades, Ukraine is increasing its chances of launching more successful strikes against Russia,
07:46thereby making its logistics lockdown even more effective. Fedorov also explained the second phase
07:51of the program. We are centrally launching tenders for the purchase of a large batch of middle strike
07:55weapons. Open tenders are not only about speed and scaling up production, they're also about
08:00competition between manufacturers, minimizing corruption risks, transparency, and efficient
08:05use of public funds. In other words, the first phase is about the here and now. It's about getting
08:10weapons out to the brigades that need them to keep up the pressure on the enemy. The second phase,
08:14meanwhile, is more long-term. It's about scaling the system on a national scale to rapidly increase the
08:20production of middle strike drones, create more competition among drone manufacturers, and
08:24standardize procurement at scale, so that many more of these weapons can be rolled out in the
08:28months and years to come. Before we look at why this matters, and the impact it's already having
08:33on the ground, you are watching The Military Show. If you haven't subscribed yet, now is the time.
08:40Fedorov expects that it won't take long for Ukraine to begin seeing the benefits of this program,
08:44noting, as early as this summer, the results of the centralized procurement of the medium-range
08:49strike capabilities will be felt on the front line. The enemy will no longer feel safe, even at a great
08:54distance from the line of combat, and there's plenty of compelling evidence to suggest that Russia is
08:58already suffering from the devastating effects of Kyiv's middle strike campaign. Indeed, as Fedorov
09:04himself notes, the price of advancement for the Russians is constantly growing. He goes on to
09:09explain that as recently as October 2025, Russia was losing around 67 soldiers on average for every one
09:16square kilometer of territory gained. By April of this year, that number has almost tripled to 179 losses
09:22per square kilometer. The minister continues, Russia is suffering record losses, over 35,000 soldiers
09:29killed or seriously wounded every month, and we continue to pick up the pace. He notes that Ukraine
09:34has quadrupled the destruction of enemy logistics, warehouses, equipment, command posts, and supply
09:39routes at operational depth over the course of recent months, and the effects are clear to see.
09:44The more Russian logistics are destroyed, the fewer assaults take place at the LBZ,
09:48line-of-battle zone. Fedorov cites two key reasons for this. First is the fact that Ukraine has
09:54adjusted its strategy to focus more heavily on targets that are further back from the front.
09:58Second is the fact that Russia no longer has access to the Starlink satellite service that
10:02helped its troops pilot their drones, communicate with one another, and manage their battlefield
10:06movements. Deprived of this technology, Russia's forces are running blind through frontline kill zones,
10:12and behind them, all hell is breaking loose. This can be best seen in the occupied southern regions of
10:17Ukraine, particularly the southern sections of Donetsk, as well as Zaporizhia and Kherson.
10:22There, Russia has for years relied on a relatively small selection of supply lines,
10:26turning what were once Ukrainian highways into military convoy routes. And for years it got away
10:31with it. The routes were too far back for Ukraine to realistically and consistently target. Even if it
10:37could carry out the odd strike now and then, it simply didn't have the technology to do so with any
10:41regularity. But that's all changed. Now Ukraine has the technology. It has the weapons to strike
10:47these locations and it's using them to incredible effect. In Donetsk, for example, Ukraine's Azov
10:52Brigade of the 1st National Guard Corps recently revealed that its long-range drones are actively
10:57bringing Russia's supply routes under fire control. More specifically, they're targeting two major roads
11:02leading into the Ukrainian city of Mariupol. One of those roads runs to the Russian port city of
11:07Taganrog to the east, while the other stretches further north into the Donetsk region to Volnovaka.
11:13These routes form part of the larger land corridor, linking mainland Russia to occupied Crimea
11:18and passing through several occupied regions in the process. It's a vital passageway for the Kremlin
11:23to transport food, ammo and other supplies to the Crimean Peninsula, especially now when all other routes
11:29have been either destroyed or deemed too dangerous to use. The Azov Brigade released footage on May 25th
11:35showing their drones actually scanning traffic flows along the highways, picking out Russian
11:39military vehicles and striking their targets with ease. In the accompanying caption, Azov wrote,
11:45Azov patrols the border area around Mariupol. Ukrainian territory must be free of Russian troops.
11:50The most reliable way to achieve this is to move the sanitary zone for enemy logistics closer to
11:55Russia itself and the occupied Crimea. The unit concluded,
11:58there will no longer be a safe Azov sea region for the occupiers. And if this evidence is anything to
12:04go by, they're absolutely right. With increasing numbers of Ukrainian drones patrolling these
12:08highways, it may soon become too risky for Russia to use them. That will leave the Kremlin with no
12:13viable options to move supplies into Crimea, which is also under heavy siege at the moment as Ukraine's
12:18drones and missiles damage and destroy the region's remaining air defenses and military installations.
12:23This isn't just happening in Donetsk, but elsewhere across the occupied territories too.
12:28Around the same time, Azov was sharing its control over the highways into Mariupol,
12:32another Ukrainian brigade, the 412th or Nemesis Brigade to be exact, also revealed that Russian
12:38officials had actually decided to close down one of their main logistics routes running across the
12:42south of Ukraine. Highway R280, which the Kremlin called the Novorossiya route, extends through the
12:48occupied cities of Mariupol to Melitopol in Zaporizhia and Simferopol in Crimea. It's the final
12:54stretch of the Crimean land corridor and arguably the most important piece of the Kremlin's logistical
12:59puzzle, because there really are no alternative roads available in this area for Russia to move
13:03its supplies from point A to point B. The Kremlin's forces have grown to rely on it to move various
13:08pieces of military equipment and other supplies westward. That was until the Nemesis Brigade came along
13:13and unleashed what it's calling a secret new attack drone that hasn't been publicly seen before,
13:18and is reportedly proven highly effective behind enemy lines, taking out dozens of Russian trucks
13:23and fuel tankers. On Telegram, Nemesis wrote, The scale of the losses forced the Russian command
13:29and the occupational authorities to restrict the movement of heavy equipment along the so-called
13:33Novorossiya Highway. The enemy's attempts to use field and dirt roads for detours are also proving
13:38futile. Ukrainian drones successfully detect and eliminate targets on any terrain. This ties
13:44in with images and footage that have also spread across social media recently, showing major roads
13:49out of Mariupol lined with the burned-out remains of military vehicles and smouldering tank chassis,
13:54proving beyond any shadow of doubt that these routes are no longer safe places for the Russians.
13:59As the Nemesis Post notes, even though Russia has tried to use alternative dirt tracks and off-road
14:04routes to keep supplies moving, Ukraine's drones have no trouble at all seeking and destroying them
14:10wherever they go. Logically, Russia should be able to do something about all of this. It claims to be
14:15the second-best military in the world. It boasts about its state-of-the-art air defenses. It pours
14:20billions of dollars into its armed forces every year. Yet the very supply lines it claims to control
14:25are rapidly turning into vehicle graveyards. Even as hardline Russian nationalists and Zed bloggers call
14:31for the Kremlin to take action and install nets or other anti-drone measures along these roads,
14:35they remain under siege from the skies. This is likely due to the fact that Ukraine
14:40hasn't just focused on targeting the routes themselves, but the various defenses surrounding
14:44them. Kyle Glenn, investigator at the Center for Information Resilience, recently revealed that there
14:49have been a 300% increase in Ukrainian strikes on Russian air defenses and electronic warfare assets
14:55in March and April of this year, with around 80 systems targeted in total. Many are expensive and
15:01hard to replace, and every time Russia loses a defensive system, it becomes even easier for
15:05Ukraine to hit it again, even harder than before, as Glenn notes. The danger for Russia is these
15:10collective losses of air defense systems effectively leading to a cascading failure, as each individual
15:16loss makes further Ukrainian drone raids more effective. And it's not going to stop. Ukrainian
15:21President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed as much on May 5th, writing on X. The number of mid-range
15:26strikes has also increased significantly. There are now twice as many strikes at distances of 20-plus
15:31kilometers compared with March, and four times as many compared with February. And there will be even
15:36more. This is a priority area. As a direct consequence, Russian units are already feeling the heat,
15:42just like Napoleon's forces and the Nazis before them so many decades ago. They're beginning to move
15:47their most important assets, like ammo depots and command posts, further back from the front lines.
15:52This is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it may help to keep these locations a little safer.
15:57On the other hand, it complicates logistics even further, because suppliers have to travel longer
16:01distances. And as Ukraine's drones get even better at traversing these longer distances, it may not
16:06matter how far back Russia repositions its command posts and supply nodes, they'll all soon be found
16:11and destroyed by Kyiv's fast-evolving UAV army. Even Russian journalists are starting to see the
16:17coming crisis, with war correspondent Dmitry Steshin warning that unless urgent action is taken,
16:23in the coming months logistics will collapse. That's exactly what Ukraine is banking on.
16:28In the meantime, Kyiv's forces are recapturing land en masse, which you can learn about more in this video.
16:33Or check out this one to see how Ukraine managed to find a way to bring down Russia's multi-million
16:37dollar missiles without even having to fire a shot. And make sure to subscribe to the channel
16:42for more military news and insights, and thank you as always for watching.
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