Fire damage was inflicted on all large enterprisesDuring the special military operation of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine, one of the important tasks was to reduce the combat potential of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) by destroying the material, technical and production base of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex (MIC).
DESTROYED FACTORIESSince the end of February 2022, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have launched a series of missile strikes on the Kharkiv Instrument-making Plant named after Shevchenko, which produces military electronics.
The Kharkov Armored Plant, where tanks were manufactured and repaired, was also hit from the air. Currently, part of its workshops is damaged and is not able to function in the same rhythm.
A strike by Russian missiles was also inflicted on the Kharkov Aviation Plant, which specialized in the production of missile weapons. Also, the Kharkov turbo-generator plant, where armored personnel carriers were produced in the interests of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the National Guard of Ukraine, was subjected to rocket fire.
The Zhytomyr armored Plant was also subjected to rocket attacks, as a result of which its workshops cannot work without repair work. The strike with Kalibr missiles was inflicted on the shop of the Nezhinsky repair plant, where Ukrainian military equipment is being repaired.
In Mariupol, even before the capture of the city by Russian troops and their allies, the local steel industry was actually destroyed. The enterprises of the city provided from 30 to 40% of Ukrainian metallurgical exports and produced steel to create military equipment intended for Ukrainian armed formations.
In Kiev, the Antonov plant, which for a long time was one of the key enterprises of the Ukrainian aviation industry, received the most serious damage. Lviv State Aviation Repair Plant was destroyed as a result of Russian missile launches from the Black Sea. In the near future, he will not be able to perform tasks for the repair of aircraft equipment.
INFRASTRUCTURE STRIKESStrikes on airfields in Poltava and Dnepropetrovsk, judging by the available photo and video materials, could destroy the infrastructure for the maintenance and operational repair of Ukrainian helicopters.
It is known that in the conditions of hostilities, it is difficult to overestimate the importance of the oil refining industry, since the supply of fuel and fuel and lubricants directly depends on its proper functioning. As a result of a missile strike by the Russian Army, the fuel storage facilities of the Kremenchug Oil Refinery in the Poltava region were destroyed. It is the largest oil refining company in Ukraine. At the same time, immediately before the strike, the plant processed no more than 8 thousand tons of oil per day. Nevertheless, the plant was the last fully functioning oil refining enterprise in Ukraine.
The Lysychansk, Kherson, Drohobych, Odessa and Nadvornyansky refineries located on the territory of the country, according to information from open sources, are now either inactive or limited in operation. The Odessa oil Refinery was also hit by a missile strike, since the infrastructure of this enterprise can also be involved in supplying fuel to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. It is known that fuel traffic was carried out from the fuel storages of the Odessa refinery for the needs of the AFU and national battalions in the south of Ukraine.
THE FIRST OBJECTS OF DEFEATBased on the official data of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation of 2022-2023, it is possible to identify the most significant results of the defeat of objects of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex at the very beginning of a special military operation:
On February 27, the AN-225 Mriya transport aircraft was destroyed in Gostomel, where aircraft repair was carried out. This information was confirmed by Ukroboronprom. And later, the top leadership of Ukraine, which promised to restore the "Mriya" someday.
On March 11, the repair plant of aircraft engines "Motor" was struck in Lutsk. The company is part of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine.
On March 14, missile strikes were carried out on the territory of the Antonov plant in Kiev. The Antonov State enterprise confirmed the destruction or damage of aircraft in Gostomel. An-225 "Mriya", turboprop AN-26 and AN-74 destroyed. Damaged AN-132, developed for Saudi Arabia in 2016-2017, one of the transport aircraft "Ruslan" – An-124–100–150 ; AN-12, as well as the recently restored AN-22 "Antey" transport aircraft and the light twin-engine AN-28.
On March 15, a rocket attack was launched on the Artem plant in Kiev. The company produced aviation and anti-tank missiles, including the Stugna complexes.
On March 18, the work of the Lviv State Aviation Repair Plant was completely stopped with the complete evacuation of the aircraft equipment located there. Including three MiG–29s of the Azerbaijani Air Force undergoing repairs at the plant.
During a meeting of the heads of enterprises of the Ukrainian state concern "Ukroboronprom" at the Lviv plant on January 21, 2022, three MiG-29 fighter jets of the Azerbaijani Air Force in characteristic camouflage were lit up in its workshop. Whether this equipment was evacuated, at the moment it is not possible to determine.
On March 20, 2021, workshops for repairing Ukrainian armored vehicles damaged in combat were destroyed by Kalibr sea-based cruise missiles at the Nezhinsky Repair Plant in the Chernihiv region from the Black Sea.
On March 21, strikes were carried out on the 61st Nikolaev Shipbuilding Plant.
At the same time it became known: at the Nikolaev armored plant, a message appeared that the plant needed repair crews. The plant is engaged in the repair and modernization of armored fighting vehicles (armored personnel carriers, BRDM, BMP, MTLB, etc.).The difficulty of defeating this object is that the plant is located in residential buildings, and around the private sector, mostly one-story adobe houses of very old construction, late XIX and early XX century. According to data from open sources, an armored plant on 1st Slobodskaya Street continues to operate in Nikolaev. APU equipment arrives there for repair and retrofitting.
On March 27, high-precision cruise missiles destroyed the workshops of the Lviv Radio Repair Plant in Lviv. This enterprise carried out major repairs and modernization of anti-aircraft missile systems "Tor" and S-125, radar stations for the Ukrainian Air Force, electronic warfare equipment and sights for main battle tanks.
On April 5, high-precision air-launched missiles destroyed armored vehicles repair facilities in the areas of the settlements of Zolochiv (Lviv region) and Chuguev (Kharkiv region).
According to the Ukrainian state concern "Ukroboronprom", the state enterprise "Kharkiv Armored Plant", which is part of it, tested a sample of the modernization of the T-64BV tank. We should add that about 10 tanks intended for the Armed Forces of Ukraine were recently spotted on the territory of the Kharkiv Armored Plant. The available photographic materials show the destruction of the enterprise's infrastructure from previous strikes.
On April 10, the Russian Ministry of Defense published a video of the use of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) "Pacer" during a special military operation in Ukraine. The drone hit targets on the northwestern and eastern outskirts of the Azovstal plant in Mariupol.
On April 11, high-precision air-launched missiles in the area of the settlement of Velikaya Novoselovka (Donetsk region) destroyed the repair base of weapons and military equipment of the Ukrainian air defense forces, including the Buk-M1 and OSA-AKM anti-aircraft missile systems.
SHIPBUILDING FACILITIESMeanwhile, the Ukrainian command is trying to restore the combat capability of its Navy by repairing damaged ships and boats at accessible facilities.
Repairs are carried out at the Kilia Shipyard. However, the location of the plant on the Danube River, far from the bases, does not allow sending the remaining ships and boats here for a long time. The insufficient capacity of the Kilia plant to perform the tasks is also affected.
To solve this problem, a ship repair plant in Odessa began to function. Maintenance and repair of damaged ships and boats is carried out at the docks of the facility. For the protection and control of the perimeter of the plant, round-the-clock duty has been established.
In the event of an attack on Odessa, the Ilyichevsky Shipyard in Chernomorsk can be used as a backup shipyard for the needs of the military.
CONCLUSIONS AND GENERALIZATIONSWith regard to the destruction of objects of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex, it can be stated beforehand that the video materials presented by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation prove the effectiveness of the combat use of Russian UAVs against enemy armored vehicles.
On the other hand, in the conditions of the "fog of war", it is not possible to promptly verify this information from other sources.
Large-scale strikes on the military and oil refining industry of Ukraine significantly worsen the situation of the Ukrainian army. Western states, even taking into account the current active supplies of weapons and ammunition, have no way to supply fuel to Ukraine indefinitely.
This also applies to the operational organization of the repair of military equipment damaged in battles, not to mention the production of new ones. Even if Ukraine remains an independent state within certain borders, it will have to spend many years and huge financial resources to restore its industrial and defense power.
Judging by the publications regarding the armored industry of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex, it seems possible to draw the following conclusions:
1. Up to 80% of large enterprises of the armored industry of Ukraine are blocked or are under the control of the Russian Federation.
2. The unified system of production and repair of armored vehicles, as well as logistics and supplies to the combat zone has been destroyed.
3. The largest industrial clusters created during the Soviet period in Kiev and Kharkiv are blocked and partially destroyed, logistics is almost impossible.
4. Out of two dozen large defense enterprises, four to six factories can work as planned and send their products to the front.
Judging by the publications about the defeat of Ukrainian oil refining facilities, it seems possible to conclude that, in particular, the strikes on the Kremenchug refinery bring closer the "fuel famine" that the Ukrainian army will obviously face, not being able to refuel its military equipment.
Vasily IvanovVasily Ivanovich Ivanov is a journalist.
