Logistics organisation for units in a military conflict zone

Abstract

The hostilities, which originated in eastern Ukraine in 2014, escalated into a full-scale war on February 24, 2022, following the invasion by the Russian Feder- ation. Hundreds of cities and towns across nearly all state regions were targeted by rocket and artillery fire. The most intense fighting occurred in Luhansk, Do- netsk, Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, Kyiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Odesa regions. Over 5 million Ukrainian citizens were compelled to evacuate to secure locations in western Ukraine, Europe, and beyond. On February 24, 2022, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, signed Decree No. 64/2022, “On the introduction of Martial Law in Ukraine”. The Ukrainian civil protection system had to work in the new realities. After all, rescuers, by their vocation, are always close to those who need help and pro- vide salvation to people regardless of the circumstances around them. The city of Kharkiv was in the active combat zone from the first hours of the invasion and the beginning of hostilities, and employees of the National University of Civil De- fence of Ukraine, like all the rescuers of the country, accepted the challenge and started actively rearranging their work in conditions of constant shelling. The dangerous working conditions of rescuers demanded new, unique ap- proaches to solving Civil Defence problems during martial law. The main task is the rescuers’ safety when facing challenges during firefighting at critical infra- structure facilities. In the zone, chemically dangerous objects and radioactive substances are located during hostilities. In addition, the potential threat of us- ing chemical or nuclear weapons has significantly increased. Of course, the entire area of hostilities, which amounts to hundreds of thousands of square kilometres, has been polluted by various explosive objects, so the main work in the liberated territories is demining and removing flammable objects. The enemy’s powerful strikes on the energy infrastructure have led to large-scale blackouts throughout the country, with the consequences of which we constantly have to fight. Fortu- nately, volunteer organisations have become widespread in such difficult condi- tions, supporting all sections of the population, from the military at the front to babies in hospitals. The misfortunes experienced by millions of people could not leave an imprint on their psychological health, which will require a long rehabili- tation period for many years to come. Indeed, working in such difficult conditions also harms the rescuers’ morale, and professional work with each individual can reduce the adverse effects and internal reserves.