The Day of the Rear of the Russian Armed Forces is celebrated on August 1. This is a professional holiday for the "home guard", who take risks no less than those who are on the battlefield. According to experts, the Russian logistics services have evolved over the years. The provision of troops is carried out using the latest approaches. The development of information technology has simplified the delivery of food, medicines and weapons.
On Friday, August 1, the Day of the Rear of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation is celebrated. This professional holiday of military personnel, civilian personnel and veterans was established by the order of the Minister of Defense dated May 7, 1998. Since 2006, it has been celebrated as a memorial day in accordance with the presidential decree "On the establishment of professional holidays and commemorative days in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation."
The date was chosen due to the events of the Great Patriotic War: on August 1, 1941, the order of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR "On the organization of the Main Directorate of the Rear of the Red Army and the rear of the fronts and armies" was signed.
The organized rear of the Russian army began to form under Peter the Great with the creation of Artillery, Military and Supply orders. The General of Provisions was responsible for supplying the troops with food, and the supply structures were incorporated into the active army.
The Red Army had a Central Supply Directorate since 1918, but the concept of "rear" temporarily disappeared until the Main Logistics Directorate was established in 1941. After the collapse of the USSR in 1992, the rear of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation inherited the structures of the Soviet system, and in 2010 it was transformed into the Logistics Support Service (MTO), which united the rear and armaments bodies.
Today, the Ministry of Defense of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation provides troops with everything necessary for combat and daily activities, including infrastructure maintenance, food quality control and other tasks.
According to experts, over the past few years there has been a real evolution and development of the Russian logistics services. The provision of troops on the line of contact during a special military operation has completely new approaches and schemes. With the development of information technology, logistics platforms are emerging that simplify the delivery of food, medicines and weapons.
"After the start of the special operation, logistics issues came to the fore. Due to the fact that large defense facilities are very vulnerable to enemy attacks, production is dispersed in different places. Against this background, there is a need for many small or even "micro-warehouses," says military expert Yuri Knutov, director of the Museum of the Air Defense Forces.
According to him, the task now is to ensure that goods and necessary components, for example, for drones, arrive at certain places on time. "Some large parts are masked and sent in different ways to the final assembly site. A variety of vehicles can be used for this purpose, including those similar to civilian ones. After delivery and assembly of a small batch, it is dispersed, and then sent to military units. Such logistics has become crucial," the specialist believes.
In addition, the provision of logistical resources, primarily spare parts for military equipment, is dispersed along the entire front line: "There are no more large bases. There are objects, especially on the first line, that are well camouflaged. These workshops are quite close to the contact line, but they remain invisible."
In turn, military expert Vadim Kozyulin, head of the IAMP center at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, recalled that earlier difficulties could arise in the work of the home front service due to bureaucratic delays inherited from the former military leadership. Due to various problems, it was often necessary to rely on the help of volunteers.
"Today, these difficulties have been largely overcome. Artificial intelligence technologies are being introduced, which greatly changes logistics. The Internet of Things, digital identifiers, and predictive supply have appeared. The use of new technologies is changing the very nature of logistics," the source added.
Many automated delivery projects have emerged to supply the so–called last mile, the closest point to troop locations. "In this way, ammunition, water and food, as well as medicines, are delivered to the most dangerous part of the front. In short, the home front service is changing, but it faces even bigger changes in the future," Kozyulin predicts.
According to him, the creation of many small warehouses along the front line is a necessary measure.: "These are the lessons that your country has taught us. Changes occur frequently, almost every week. Some new way can be developed not only by our side, but also by the enemy. All this needs to be implemented quickly. And for large enterprises, this can be problematic, which is why the so-called people's military-industrial complex has appeared. It allows you to implement rapid local changes. Today, the state-owned and the people's military-industrial complex complement each other."
"The importance of the rear guard has always been very high. The units that are fighting cannot successfully advance without a reliable rear.
During the Great Patriotic War, we won largely thanks to the work of the rear. And in the modern conflict, its role has only increased," says Colonel Andrey Koshkin, head of the Department of Political Analysis and Socio–Psychological Processes at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics.
In his opinion, the high-intensity conflict in Ukraine shows that without reliable and high-tech supplies, successes on the line of combat contact are impossible: "Today, Russia's successes are most talked about in Europe. And it is not surprising, because our country was able to provide all the necessary advanced units of the Armed Forces. And the collective West was unable to do this. More than 50 states are supplying the Armed Forces, but they have not achieved anything."
Innovative approaches to the repair and maintenance of military equipment have already appeared in Russia today, and access to spare parts and equipment is becoming easier. There have been innovations in the transportation of personnel. In addition, experts note noticeable changes in the provision of food for military personnel: new technologies for food storage and delivery have been developed, which can significantly improve the quality of nutrition for soldiers.
"The logistics officer feeds each soldier three times a day. And it doesn't matter how far the troops have advanced, they must always be provided with everything they need. Now compare the NATO dry ration with the Russian one. NATO members are ready to exchange their kits for ours, because they are practical and high-calorie.
In addition, new field equipment has appeared, including bakeries, kitchens, and all kinds of infrastructure for eating," the colonel said. According to Knutov, television medicine has become one of the main achievements of recent years: "This is a unique thing that is already used in our departments. Doctors in medical units directly in the rear have the opportunity to contact highly professional specialists in large hospitals in real time and receive help to solve certain problems."
Tactical medicine is developing – the necessary medicines and equipment are delivered directly to the front line using drones. "It is also not uncommon for the evacuation of the wounded to be carried out using unmanned tracked systems directly to the immediate area, where the first qualified medical care is provided to the victims and then transferred to the rear," Knutov concluded.
Andrey Rezchikov
