Lessons from the Russo-Ukrainian conflict: the primacy of logistics over strategy

Abstract

ABSTRACT A commonly held view amongst strategists is that strategy leads logistics, and that military logistics, which is the science of sustainment and replenishment, is generally subordinate. The authors of this article contend that in fact the opposite is often true, that logistics frequently has primacy over strategy, and that it is the success or failure of logistics at lower levels of war which exerts the greater effect. The authors illustrate their arguments on this nexus between logistics and strategy, with examples from the current Russo-Ukrainian conflict highlighting how Russian logistic failures have contributed to failure of the strategic plan.