ChrisO Profile picture
Aug 1 13 tweets 4 min read
1/ Overnight news of a devastating Ukrainian HIMARS strike against a Russian ammunition train suggests to me that the Ukrainians have been rather clever in exploiting the limitations of the local rail network.
2/ The attack took place at Brylivka railway station, south-east of Kherson. Coincidentally, it's an area I remember from a visit many years ago. The whole area is a vast, flat, arid and frankly mononous farming region watered by irrigation canals.
3/ Brylivka owes its existence to the railway line, which was built in 1944 under Stalin to provide a second rail route to Crimea (the main line is further east, running from Melitopol to Simferopol). The village was founded the following year, presumably to house railway staff.
4/ But the line at Brylivka has three peculiarities. First and most importantly, the entire line from Kherson to Dzhankoy is only a single track line. Single track lines have a very limited capacity to carry trains. (Thanks to bueker.net for the map.)
5/ There had been a plan to upgrade the line to double tracks with electrification during the 2010s, but this fell through due to Russia's seizure of the Crimea in 2014.
6/ Second, Brylivka is equipped with a large set of passing loops (or passing sidings) which are long enough for large freight trains. Passing loops allow trains to pass in both directions on a single-line track. The Russian ammo train would have been stopped here.
7/ Third, Brylivka is just south of the North Crimean Canal, which waters the entire area (and Crimea). The railway line crosses it on a single-tack bridge – given its strategic importance, I wouldn't be surprised if Mr HIMARS paid it a visit soon.
8/ The line has not been very busy in recent years. Russia's takeover of the Crimea meant that long-distance and freight traffic ceased in 2014. Prior to the 2022 invasion, it reportedly only had 2 passenger trains a day between Kherson and Vadim, the last Ukrainian-held station.
9/ However, given Russia's dependency on railways for its military logistics (as noted by @TrentTelenko and others), the Russians are likely to have been making heavy use of the line to resupply their forces in occupied areas of Kherson oblast.
10/ They have also within the last month reopened the line from Kherson to Dzhankoy for passenger traffic, though I would imagine the timetable will be somewhat disrupted now. ria.ru/20220630/melit…
11/ So I think it's likely that the Ukrainians could predict where the ammo train would be stopping, because the single-track layout of the line likely required a stop at Brylivka's passing loops.
12/ The damage at Brylivka certainly looks severe, though I would imagine the Russians will be able to repair the track within a few days. But there's nothing they can do about the track's layout.
13/ Whatever else happens, the track is likely to remain single, there will continue to be a need for a passing loop at Brylivka, and trains will continue to need to stop there to allow other trains to pass. So this vulnerability isn't going to go away. /end

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More from @ChrisO_wiki

Aug 2
1/ What do Russian soldiers think of their commanders in Ukraine? This fourth 🧵 in a series looks at soldiers' personal accounts and intercepted calls, as translated by @wartranslated, and what they say about their leaders' deficiencies and Russia's tactics in the Ukraine war. Image
2/ For the first part, a look at the factors motivating ordinary Russian soldiers to fight in Ukraine, see below:
3/ In the second part, I've looked at the demoralising effect of inadequate training and lack of equipment for volunteers, as well as their supplies being looted before they even reached the front lines:
Read 49 tweets
Jul 31
1/ Why do Russian soldiers break on the Ukranian battlefield? This third 🧵 in a series looks at at how their personal experiences of war have prompted some Russian contract soldiers to refuse orders, resign from their contracts and try to go home.
2/ For the first part, a look at the factors motivating ordinary Russian soldiers to fight in Ukraine, see below:
3/ In the second part, I've looked at the demoralising effect of inadequate training and lack of equipment for volunteers, as well as their supplies being looted before they even reached the front lines:
Read 46 tweets
Jul 30
1/ Why do Russian soldiers quit fighting in Ukraine and go home? In this second 🧵 in a short series, I'll look at what translated Russian accounts say about some of the factors prompting soldiers to give up on Putin's war.
2/ For the first part, a look at what motivates ordinary Russian soldiers to fight in Ukraine, see below:
3/ It's unusual that Russian soldiers *can* quit on the battlefield, but the reason it's possible is that Putin doesn't want a full mobilisation. He's playing by peacetime rules. "Contract soldiers" can resign from their contracts at any time, though they can be penalised.
Read 39 tweets
Jul 29
1/ Why do Russian soldiers fight in Ukraine, why do they quit and what happens when they do quit? Intercepted Russian phone calls published by the Ukrainians and accounts from the soldiers themselves shed some interesting light on these key questions. First 🧵 of a short series. Image
2/ Let's start with some caveats. The Ukrainian authorities have released extracts from recorded phone calls by Russian soldiers, clearly for propaganda. Some Russians have also published personal accounts of their service. These are particularly interesting for being unfiltered.
3/ It's unclear how well these recordings and accounts represent Russian soldiers in general. However, other countries (US, UK) have said that the Russians are badly demoralised, presumably based on a wider range of evidence. So the accounts may not be untypical.
Read 40 tweets
Jul 28
Russian commentator/bad guy Igor 'Strelkov' Girkin thinks it's a bad idea for the Russians and their Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) allies to try to break through the heavily fortified Ukrainian defences at Avdiivka outside Donetsk city. He's not wrong. Translation: /1
"Assault on Avdiivka. The battle for initiative has begun. So, Russian military thought has made another ingenious military decision. /2
While the Ukrainians are trying to achieve success in the Kherson direction (breaking through a front on which, theoretically, promises a deep breakthrough and - at least - operational success), our military geniuses decided to storm Avdiivka head-on again. /3
Read 14 tweets
Jul 27
The Russian commentator Igor 'Strelkov' Girkin has confirmed that the Antonivsky road and rail bridges near Kherson, attacked last night apparently by Ukrainian HIMARS, are now out of action. Translation follows: @RALee85 @wartranslated
Finally! The first road bridge across the Dnieper was taken out of operation ... True, so far it's in Kherson, and not by our troops ... But never mind, "bad things begin". /1
And without irony - the enemy units, having crossed the river Ingulets, captured the village Andreevka (Beryslav direction, between Snigiryovka and Davydov Brod). It seems that "Girkin beckoned" again (just yesterday he wrote about the threat in this area). /2
Read 6 tweets

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