Russia is building defense lines in eastern and southern Ukraine - success depends on the soldiers
Created: 12/14/2022, 10:49 p.m
Soldiers of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic in Zaitseve (Ukraine) in a trench in 2017.
Russia is now establishing defense lines to the east and south.
© picture alliance / Celestino Arce Lavin/ZUMA Wire/dpa |
Celestino Arce Lavin
In the Ukraine war, Russia is now apparently also relying on static defense lines with anti-tank barriers and trenches.
This strategy has advantages and disadvantages.
Kherson - As part of their counter-offensive, Ukrainian forces were able to recapture numerous areas, including the southern city of Kherson.
Russia is now apparently trying to consolidate the previous fronts in the Ukraine war by building up defense lines.
Both in the east near Popasna and in the south near Cherson, satellite images show strong defensive lines in Russian-occupied territory.
Military experts are skeptical that this strategy will bring the Kremlin the desired result, the
New York Times (NYT)
reported on Wednesday.
Dragon's teeth, trenches and tank traps: these are the lines of defense that Russia is building
It had already become known in November that Russia apparently had concrete anti-tank obstacles, so-called “dragon teeth”, manufactured in the Mariupol works and transported to Cherson and Zaporizhia.
Satellite images now show the progress of this endeavor.
Defense lines near Popasna can be seen in one detail, which Russian forces apparently built out of the ground - or partly into the ground - in just six days.
The defense consists of two lines of obstacles to vehicles, followed by deep trenches called "tank traps".
Behind it a line of anti-tank obstacles, also called "dragon teeth" and a trench.
This combination of obstacles spans hundreds of meters and is apparently designed to direct Ukrainian troops down a road that will make them an easy target for Russian troops.
"The idea of defensive positions is to give yourself an advantage by being able to fight from prepared positions," said Ben Barry, a senior fellow at the
NYT
's International Institute for Strategic Studies .
In other areas around Popasna, too, Russia set up more such defense mechanisms.
According to an analysis by the US newspaper, hundreds of such defense lines were erected in just 11 days.
In its war of aggression against Ukraine, Russia is now apparently also using anti-tank barriers, so-called “dragon teeth”, at Popasna and Cherson.
The picture shows old anti-tank barriers of the West Wall near Aachen (symbolic picture).
© IMAGO / Heike Schreiber-Braun
How effective are the Russian defense lines?
The fortifications could slow down the Ukrainian army, but whether the obstacles are really effective depends on whether and how they are manned, according to military experts.
They're just holes in the ground unless they're held by disciplined and motivated soldiers backed by artillery, mobile reserves and logistics, said Philip Wasielewski of the Foreign Policy Research Institute of the
New York Times
.
However, according to numerous reports, morale and discipline within the Russian army are not in good shape.
Problems were also repeatedly reported in management and logistics.
A successful defense of the positions depends on the quality of the troops stationed there, agree the experts at the Institute for the Study of War.
However, Russia has probably used newly mobilized recruits to defend the front in Cherson and saved more experienced troops for secondary positions, according to an ISW analysis at the end of last month.
Trench construction has already claimed human lives - criticism also comes from military bloggers
The construction of the defense lines has apparently already cost human lives, because the soldiers are an easy target for drones in open terrain.
In late November, British intelligence also reported that mobilized Russian reservists most likely suffered heavy casualties after being deployed under artillery fire to dig sophisticated trench systems around the town of Svatovye in the Luhansk region.
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Criticism of the defense lines also comes from the Russian side.
In a post on Telegram, Igor Strelkov, a former Russian intelligence officer, said the decision to build long-term defense structures was made "on a whim" and that the strategy of a protracted war was "suicide" for Russia.
This is how the defensive lines can help Russian strategy
The Dnieper River is a natural obstacle. According to the
NYT
, however, the Russian defenses in Kherson are far behind the front lines, around 80 kilometers from the river.
The construction of these defenses indicates that the Russian military leadership views the possibility of a Ukrainian counter-offensive across the Dnieper as a serious threat, US war researchers at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank believe.
Russia may also plan to move more troops from those positions to other regions, such as hard-fought Bakhmut.
According to information from Kyiv on Monday, heavy fighting continued around the villages of Bakhmut and Avdiivka in Donbass in eastern Ukraine.
The defensive lines now erected by Russian troops are just before the town of Bakhmut.
This would allow Russia to fall behind defenses in a Ukrainian counteroffensive without losing much territory.
In this way, the Russian armed forces could possibly also avoid the loss of material as they did during the withdrawal from Cherson.