Forward from: ꑭ Eternal Muscovite ✙△
Rostov is:
-The headquarters of the Southern Military District's staff who command and control the 58th Combined Arms Army
-The headquarters of the Russian Joint Group of Forces in Ukraine as a whole
-A major supply hub for the entire frontline
-An especially critical supply hub for occupied Zaporizhian Oblast and Crimea. The "land bridge to Crimea" begins in Rostov, and then travels west along the north coast of the sea of Azov to Mariupol, Melitopol, and then south into Crimea.
Sure, Wagner are competent infantrymen, but as their Bakhmut battles showed they do not handle their own logistics, by and large.
How many professional logisticians are amongst their ranks? Do they even care that they are in one of Russia's primary transport hubs for supply of their armies? Will they be able to competently oversee the flow of supplies to the Russian frontlines? Are any Russian logistics troops even comfortable going to Rostov right now if they don't have to? Having one high ranking former logistician from the Russian army is not the same as having your own logistics lines.
If Wagner orders them to continue logistic operations in Rostov under their command, will they obey or disobey out of fear of being complicit in the coup and potentially facing reprisals from the Russian MoD? The Kremlin labelled Prigozhin and any who support the coup as traitors, terrorists, and criminals. Does that mean that "loyal" Russian soldiers should not send supplies to the front if it's under Wagner's supervision?
We shall see.
With the Crimean bridge not accepting rail freight, Crimean logistics just got super interesting.
-The headquarters of the Southern Military District's staff who command and control the 58th Combined Arms Army
-The headquarters of the Russian Joint Group of Forces in Ukraine as a whole
-A major supply hub for the entire frontline
-An especially critical supply hub for occupied Zaporizhian Oblast and Crimea. The "land bridge to Crimea" begins in Rostov, and then travels west along the north coast of the sea of Azov to Mariupol, Melitopol, and then south into Crimea.
Sure, Wagner are competent infantrymen, but as their Bakhmut battles showed they do not handle their own logistics, by and large.
How many professional logisticians are amongst their ranks? Do they even care that they are in one of Russia's primary transport hubs for supply of their armies? Will they be able to competently oversee the flow of supplies to the Russian frontlines? Are any Russian logistics troops even comfortable going to Rostov right now if they don't have to? Having one high ranking former logistician from the Russian army is not the same as having your own logistics lines.
If Wagner orders them to continue logistic operations in Rostov under their command, will they obey or disobey out of fear of being complicit in the coup and potentially facing reprisals from the Russian MoD? The Kremlin labelled Prigozhin and any who support the coup as traitors, terrorists, and criminals. Does that mean that "loyal" Russian soldiers should not send supplies to the front if it's under Wagner's supervision?
We shall see.
With the Crimean bridge not accepting rail freight, Crimean logistics just got super interesting.