The war in Ukraine has now raged on for over 500 days.
Despite hundreds of thousands of casualties, Russia and Ukraine don’t want to end the fighting anytime soon, as both are waging war to try and win.
When will Putin’s evil war of aggression against Kyiv end? We know one thing is certain: all of the action will be covered on social media for all of the world to see.
Footage Shows Artillery Hitting Russian ‘Armor’
A video posted to social media back in May showed the destruction of a Russian BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) that was attempting to evacuate a transport truck in the vicinity of the village of Chervonopopivka in the Luhansk Oblast in Eastern Ukraine.
A Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) recorded the 22-second-long clip that shows the IFV as it was traveling down a dirt road and then took a direct hit likely from artillery fire.
The 25th Separate Airborne Sicheslav Brigade, which had been engaged in the heavy fighting in the Luhansk Oblast after defending Kyiv last year, had likely utilized the drone to target the Russian vehicles. The incident occurred near the village of Chervonopopivka, which has changed hands several times over the past year. It is believed no structures remain undamaged and most of the houses have been razed to the ground.
Such videos are shared daily, but this one highlights a fact that many viewers may have missed.
First, it shows the difficulty in vehicle recovery on the frontlines – and puts into question the value of risking an IFV for what appears to be a Ural-43206 4×4 light cargo military truck.
The U.S. military would never send an IFV – or risk its crew – to recover a lone disabled truck. Of course, the United States military always has trucks to spare.
Russia doesn’t.
The Kremlin Has a Truck Shortage Problem
One major weakness that the Kremlin faces isn’t just a shortage of main battle tanks (MBTs) or trained crews to operate the tanks. The bigger issue may be a shortage of trucks to ship supplies to locations remote from working rail lines.
Last fall, The Atlantic reported that Russia still relies primarily on trains to supply its heavy equipment and ammunition – which also explains why Ukraine has conducted raids on rail lines and had attempted to disable the Crimean Bridge last year. Moscow was to work quickly to repair that vital link that spans the Kerch Strait between Russia and Crimea.
Yet, even before Russia launched its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, there were media reports that the Russian military simply lacked enough trucks to meet its logistic requirements more than 90 miles beyond supply bumps, and the problem became even more apparent just weeks into the war.
Moreover, much has been made in the past year about the significant losses of Russian main battle tanks (MBTs) in the fighting, but the losses of trucks could be even more significant.
Moving Men and Material
The French Emperor Napoleon may have said an army marches on its stomach, but a modern army requires trucks – lots and lots of trucks.
Russia may have some 8,000 of the Ural-43206 trucks in service, which may sound like a lot. However, it should be noted that while the United States produced around 86,000 tanks during World War II; it also built more than two million trucks. In addition, the U.S. also supplied some 400,000 trucks and Jeeps to the Soviet Union during the war.
That figure can’t be overstated – as it highlighted the vast needs of the Red Army.
#Ukraine: The Ukrainian 25th Airborne Brigade destroyed a Russian BMP-1 IFV that was attempting to evacuate a transport truck in the vicinity of Chervonopopivka, #Luhansk Oblast. pic.twitter.com/VGF0zGdD4n
— ???????? Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) April 18, 2023
Though this is a far smaller scale conflict, it has become apparent that Russia values every truck it has – so much so that it sent an IFV to recover a disabled Ural-43206. Kyiv’s forces made sure that effort was in vain, and now there is one fewer truck and one fewer IFV in the Kremlin’s arsenal.
Author Experience and Expertise
A Senior Editor for 19FortyFive, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.
