Russians are making preparations to use a modified rail “push trolley” to deliver logistic support to troops in the occupied Donetsk region, according to images posted on social media by Russia’s Ministry of Defense (MOD) and John Hardie, the deputy director of the US-based Foundation for Defense of Democracy’s (FDD) Russia Program.
The system was put into place by 37th Railway Brigade troops, responsible for inspecting, maintaining, and repairing tracks in the Pokrovsk area of the Donetsk region, and the 51st Guards Combined Army’s logistics unit, according to the reports.
The video shows personnel in military uniform apparently repairing a stretch of railway line as well as camouflaging water and what appears to be a box of ammunition on the push trolley. The unmanned trolley then trundles off down the track, with what is probably a remote control antenna visible to the rear of the handcar.
The MOD claimed the trolley was capable of carrying more than a ton of cargo up to distances of 50 kilometers (30-plus miles) along existing railway tracks. The utility of such a simple system operated remotely and requiring minimum maintenance could deliver essential supplies to the front line and be difficult for Ukrainian reconnaissance to identify.
The need for reliable resupply, even in the relatively small quantities the trolley can carry, would be essential in light of the intensity of fighting in the Pokrovsk area over several months combined with Ukraine continuing interdiction of Russian supply lines. This innovative yet simple, some might say simplistic, solution to remotely deliver supplies contrasts with the use of more complex “unmanned ground vehicles (UGV)” for the same purpose by Ukraine.
The use of rail tracks for Russian logistic support has a long history. According to a detailed April 2023 report by the US Center for Naval Analyses (CNA), Russia, both during Tsarist and Soviet times, has placed great reliance on its rail network – which covers more than 80,000 kilometers (50,000 miles) of track – to support both its commercial and military logistics requirements. Specialist Russian military railway troops – “Zheleznodorozhniye Voiska (ZhV)” – were established as a separate military unit by Tsar Nicholas the First in 1851.
However, while the platform apparently requires little “upkeep” the tracks on which they run need constant inspection and repair from sabotage or incidental war damage. Also, the revelation of the concept, which appears to uses remote control systems, may give Ukrainian forces an opportunity to use electronic warfare methods to detect and disrupt this forward resupply mechanism.