Kyiv and the area around the Ukrainian capital came under heavy Russian strikes overnight, and among the main targets was a large logistics centre in Hostomel. After one of the hits in Kyiv itself a major fire broke out - footage published by local channels shows industrial buildings engulfed in flames while fire crews are still working on the ground.

The Russian Defence Ministry said a logistics centre had been struck in Hostomel which, according to Moscow, was used for storing and distributing cargo connected to Ukrainian military needs. The Russian side claims components for unmanned aerial vehicles were also held at the complex. This is the Russian version and is worth reading as such - the Ukrainian side has so far not published a final tally of the consequences.

Logistics is the new front line

Hostomel, northwest of Kyiv, is once again at the centre of the strikes because of its position and the concentration of storage and transport infrastructure. The same night, attacks were also recorded in Vasylkiv in the Kyiv region. The wider area around the capital was therefore hit at several points at once.

Then came the second round. According to the statement from Moscow, enterprises of Ukraine's metallurgical industry were hit in Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk and Kryvyi Rih. Metallurgy has particular significance for military production - steel, alloys and the materials needed for armoured vehicles, ammunition and missile parts. When you strike a smelter, you are not striking a smelter, you are striking what comes out of it six months from now.

Odesa and the sea

A large part of the night operation was directed at the Odesa region, where according to Moscow port infrastructure facilities were destroyed along with an important transport facility that enabled the unloading and storage of cargo. The Russian side claims a significant share of the foreign weapons and ammunition intended for Ukraine passed through those facilities.

Black Sea ports have a dual role - a large part of Ukrainian exports goes through them, but Moscow claims the same infrastructure also serves military shipments. That is why strikes on ports are increasingly combined with attacks on warehouses, railway lines and substations. If you cannot stop the cargo at the border, you stop it at the quay.

A war against the schedule

What is visible in this one night is not a battle for territory. This is a systematic campaign against the enemy's very ability to sustain supply - something slower than a front line and harder to photograph, but with a longer-lasting consequence. Metallurgy, port, warehouse, railway: what is being targeted is the opponent's calendar, not his map.

That is also why every conversation about a ceasefire drags on. The side destroying the other's infrastructure is in no hurry - every smelter hit shifts the balance in negotiations that have yet to begin. And the Black Sea, with all its ports and grain corridors, is closer to the Balkans than most maps suggest.