Russian checkpoints frustrate supplying troops
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Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin to resolve issues at the Gukovo checkpoint on the Ukrainian-Russian border during a meeting with government officials on April 19.[16] Putin claimed that he personally traveled through the Gukovo checkpoint, which connects Rostov and Luhansk oblasts, when returning from his recent trip to occupied Luhansk and Kherson oblasts.[17] Putin stated that poor road conditions at the checkpoint caused a civilian backup and forced trucks delivering perishable goods to wait for hours before passing through, causing shipment delays and price increases in occupied territories.[18] Putin added that some trucks must bypass the checkpoint entirely as the roads are too narrow and practically nonexistent.[19] Putin called on Russian special services and law enforcement to increase the number of inspection complexes and employees at checkpoints and ordered Russian officials to improve roads around checkpoints and establish routes from Rostov-on-Don to Luhansk Oblast.[20]
Putin’s orders indicate that Russia intends to maintain customs checkpoints with the illegally annexed eastern regions out of security concerns. ISW previously reported that Russian milbloggers complained that Russian checkpoints at the international customs line significantly slowed down Russian deliveries of ammunition to the frontlines in Donetsk Oblast.[21] The Kremlin’s failure to implement meaningful integration policies and secure occupied Ukraine is likely undermining Russia’s ability to provision forces on the front line, as ISW has previously assessed.[22] Putin is likely attempting to remedy the delays by expanding staffing to speed up inspections at the checkpoints and is not entertaining the possibility of removing these obstructions. Russia previously intensified security measures and inspections around the Kerch Strait Bridge, the Kremlin likely continues to use these checkpoints for similar security reasons.[23] The Kremlin may also use these checkpoints to prevent the mass movement of men from occupied Ukraine escaping forced mobilization, to stop Russian mobilized personnel from fleeing to Russia, and to maintain Russian filtration measures. The existence of these checkpoints further highlights that Russian officials do not view the residents of occupied Ukraine as Russian nationals and are governing as the occupying power they are, despite ongoing claims the illegally annexed territories are part of Russia.
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Russia is clearly prioritizing the checkpoints over supplying its troops and the occupied territories. I suspect it is because there is resistance in these territories that Russia has had to cope with and that resistance along with the countermeasures is causing the supply problem. It appears that Putin and his team have taken a bureaucratic approach. It also appears that Russia does not have the equivalent of the US Sea Bees with engineers to fix the roads and increase the supplies to the troops.
See, also:
Russia stunned by extent U.S. intelligence has penetrated the Kremlin, says expert about intel leaks
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“It became clear after the leaks of the classified Pentagon documents that U.S. intelligence had penetrated almost all levels, except for the highest and narrowest circle (in the Kremlin). But everything below is (known) to U.S. intelligence and allies.”
The leak of U.S. documents showed that Washington receives prompt information about almost all decisions made in Moscow, he believes.
“This leak, like no other, emphasized the fact that the United States actually receives information about what decisions are being made: starting with global ones and ending with what objects on the territory of Ukraine will be hit,” he added.
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And:
The president of Ukraine very recently said that the offensive (I think it is more relevant to call it an offensive and not a counteroffensive, because a counteroffensive is an action that takes place immediately after an enemy offensive) is postponed. President Zelensky is not the only official to have spoken about it. The reason is the delayed weapons deliveries, particularly tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and armored personnel carriers.
The situation will stabilize, but there are both objective and subjective difficulties.
Read also: Ukraine to decide on counter-offensive ‘at last moment,’ says top security official
The objective difficulties indicate that weapons should be delivered to Ukraine as securely as possible. The subjective ones, unfortunately, aren’t new. Our partners slightly overestimated their strength when they took on the relevant commitments. Some weapons systems, especially tanks like the Leopard Twos in various forms, Leopard-2 tanks of various modifications, do not meet the technical standards for use on the battlefield. That's why they need restoration and repair, sometimes serious ones. Therefore, the tank supply isn’t as fast as it should be. The same applies to the supply of ammunition - both Soviet-model shells and NATO-standard 155mm are in increasingly short supply.
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I suspect that both sides of this war currently lack the resources for a major offensive at this point.
And:
For a long time it was only speculation. Now we know for certain: Russian spy ships are mapping wind farms and key cables off the British coast. There can be only one reason for this – to learn how to sabotage UK and European critical infrastructure in the event of a full-scale war with the West.
The sobering truth is that our potential adversaries, Russia in the West and China in the East, are gearing up for wider conflict. That does not mean that conflict will happen –preparation makes it less likely – but we must urgently recognise the extent of the threat to the current order. Our world is becoming markedly more dangerous. And Britain is not ready.
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The move to Big Green energy has created more vulnerabilities in the West. They are at least twofold. Wind farms are fragile even when not under attack and China is a major supply source for Big Green.
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