Ukraine has found Russia’s Achilles’ heel in Crimea

Another day, another Russian arms depot up in smoke. The latest attack, this time on an ammunition storage site near Mayskoye on the Crimean peninsula, highlights three particular aspects of this phase of the war, and the degree to which Kyiv is adapting quicker and more effectively than Moscow.

The first is that the long-heralded Ukrainian counter-attack is, so far, less about a melee on the ground and more about a methodical attempt to target Russian supply lines. Until now, this has been through missile and rocket strikes, although Moscow’s claim that the Mayskoye attack was carried out by ‘saboteurs’ would – if true – represent an interesting new approach. (And a serious embarrassment for the Russian security forces, given that the alleged attackers apparently also managed to disappear.)

The old adage that ‘amateurs study tactics, but professionals study logistics’ is especially true in light of modern militaries’ dependence on a constant supply of fuel, ammunition, and all the other consumables of mechanised warfare.