A “Ukrainian Campaign” for the Russian Armed Forces? Logistical Deficiencies During the Invasion of Ukraine 2022

Abstract

The attack on Ukraine by Russia on February 24, 2022, stunned the international public opinion, even though a series of warning signs had been pointing to this attack for several years. A large number of papers were published to comment on the geopolitical stakes of a war in the heart of Europe, and its implications on the world economic order. On the other hand, little attention has been paid to the logistical deficiencies that have manifested themselves at the level of the Russian armed forces, whose strength and recurrence explain in part the renunciation of the Russian general staff to take control of Kiev. While major works have been conducted on military logistics to underline the importance of supplies in the success of a strategy of territorial conquest, the conflict between Ukraine and Russia indicates that failures at this level can undermine this strategy. The article raises the question of the key role of logistics as a support for military action, its originality being to highlight the failures rather than the successes.