Canada is working with the Polish and Norwegian armed forces to teach Ukrainian recruits how to use the Leopard tank. Figure: Taken from the Canadian Armed Forces (file photo)
The Ukrainian-Russian War, which lasted for more than a year, has recently become more and more developed towards a war of attrition model of “fighting inventory”. The Ukrainian railway transportation line, which can continue to operate under the Russian army’s key strikes, has also attracted the attention of the outside world.
According to a report in the Chinese column “Overseas Classmates”, recently, land tanks and other heavy equipment promised by the West to aid Ukraine are gradually being put in place. However, for these “big guys” ranging from a dozen tons to more than 70 tons, it is obviously impossible for the Ukrainians to let them travel by road from the border of Ukraine to the front line of the Russian-Ukrainian war hundreds of kilometers away. Therefore, sending these heavy equipment to the front line in the form of military columns is basically the only option.
In this regard, the question that aroused the outside world is, “Why didn’t the Russian army directly bomb the Ukrainian railway and block the transportation line?” This will prevent heavy equipment such as tanks and other Western aid from Ukraine from going to the front line. However, things are not that simple. According to data released by Ukraine and some Western countries, following the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Ukraine’s domestic railway line has indeed become one of the key targets of the Russian army, but the effect of the Russian Air Force’s air strikes is not Ideal.
Data show that in southern and central Ukraine, regarding 90% of the railway lines are still valid, during which more than 200,000 Ukrainian troops arrived at the front line by rail transport. In the Western Uzbekistan region, 98% of the railway lines remain in operation, and a large number of troops and weapons are transported to the war zone. Although the Russian army attacked dozens of Ukrainian railway bridges and transportation hubs, they were basically scrambled by the Ukrainian side in a short period of time and resumed operation.
In this regard, experts put forward two analysis for the reasons. First of all, Ukraine’s railway transportation system is very developed. The Ukrainian railway network with a total length of 23,000 kilometers ranks third among European countries, so it is difficult for the Russian army to carry out a devastating blow to it in a short period of time. On the other hand, it is a technical problem. The Russian army really lacks the ability to strike the enemy’s railway system under strict defense.
According to the analysis of “Overseas Classmates”, the modern means of attacking railways are mostly air strikes and missile attacks. Generally speaking, it doesn’t make much sense to blow up part of the rails, especially in a country like Ukraine with many plains, even if the rails are blown up, they can be repaired within a few hours. Therefore, the destruction of the railway network should focus on important nodes, such as material distribution centers, stations, bridges, and culverts. But for these important nodes, it is impossible for the Ukrainian army to wait for the Russian army to come and bomb them. It will inevitably deploy various types of anti-aircraft firepower near them, such as anti-aircraft missile positions and anti-aircraft artillery positions. At this time, it will evolve into air strikes and anti-air strikes. , And this is precisely not the strong point of the Russian Air Force.
“Overseas Classmates” pointed out that judging from the losses of the Russian Aerospace Forces on the Ukrainian battlefield, both fixed-wing fighters and armed helicopters have exposed the shortcomings of insufficient precision-guided munitions and insufficient electronic countermeasures. Reflected on the battlefield, Russian fighter planes can often only risk approaching the target, then launch uncontrolled rockets or drop uncontrolled bombs, and have difficulty escaping from incoming air defense missiles.
It is also because of this that the Ukrainian air defense forces are on standby around the important nodes of the Ukrainian railway line. It is difficult for Russian fighter planes to break into the enemy’s air defense network when there are not enough guided munitions and the electronic countermeasures are not strong. Naturally, they can only watch a considerable part of Western aid to Ukraine being sent to the front line.
Ukraine relies on its rail lines to send Western aid to the front lines.Figure: Taken from Luwang
Western aid tanks to Ukraine.Figure: Taken from Luwang
