The Logistics of Waging War that Have Slowed Down the Russian Army in Ukraine

KQED's Forum

KQED

News Commentary, News, Politics

4.2 • 727 Ratings

🗓️ 10 March 2022

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

At the outset of the war in Ukraine, many expected the Russian army would quickly capture the country. But images of trucks mired in mud and reports that Russian troops are running out of food suggest that Russia’s invasion has suffered from poor planning. It is the small, but important details of waging war – spare tires for blow outs, adequate fuel, sufficient food supplies for troops, the right kind of screws to repair a tank – that seem to have stalled the Russian invasion in Ukraine, to the surprise of analysts. We’ll look at how the everyday details of waging war, which has killed hundreds of Ukrainian men, women and children, have slowed the Russians down. Guests: Marc Champion, senior reporter covering Europe and Middle East, Bloomberg News Dr. Cynthia Cook, director, Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group; senior fellow, International Security Program, Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) J.D. Williams, senior international and defense policy researcher, Rand Corporation; has served on the National Intelligence Council; retired Marine colonel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:32.1	From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Alexis Madrigal.
0:48.3	At the outset of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, many expected the Russian army would quickly capture the country. But as the days have gone by, analysts, pro and amateur have started to ask what slowed
0:59.0	their advance, aside from Ukrainian courage.
1:02.0	A set of explanations has taken hold on Twitter.
1:05.0	They revolve around threads detailing logistical problems with the Russian force.
1:10.0	The most famous of them, on truck tire maintenance,
1:12.6	generated an entire round of mainstream media coverage.
1:15.6	This hour, we want to put those bits of logistical information into context
1:20.6	with a slate of experts on the mundane details of war fighting.
1:24.6	Fuel, food, trucks, tires.
1:26.6	That's coming up next after this news.
1:33.1	Welcome to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal. That logistics plays a major role in war is, to put it
1:40.0	mildly, not even Army 101. The word itself, which we now apply to target as often as the
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