Trenches, mines, positions
Ukraine is massively expanding its defenses
January 11, 2024, 3:47 p.m
In November, Ukrainian President Zelensky announced the expansion of defense lines on all sectors of the front. Journalists in the north can get an idea of this. After the failed offensive, Kiev is probably preparing for a sustained defensive battle.
The Ukrainian military continues to strengthen its defenses to repel the Russian invaders. In the north of the country, these have been expanded by 63 percent in the past few months, the armed forces quoted Serhiy Najew, the commander responsible for the northern sector, as saying. Reuters reporters were able to visit an area where trenches were being dug with excavators and shovels in the Chernihiv region, near the border with Russia. These should then be mined.
Nayev wrote on Telegram: “The positions are built according to a standard plan. Adjustments are made only based on local conditions. Each trench is reinforced with geotextile and concrete defenses, shelters and firing positions are built. In front of the fortress, a system of technical obstacles, both non- explosive as well as explosive.” According to the commander, additional combat brigades will be sent to the facilities in the positions if the threat from Russia increases in the future.
“The priority is obvious”
President Volodymyr Zelensky announced an expansion of the fortifications at the end of November after the military failed to quickly break through Russian lines in a counteroffensive launched in June.
He had announced the construction of shelters and fortifications along all sectors of the front. “The priority is obvious,” Zelensky said in a video address. The construction of such facilities was discussed with the Defense Minister and leading military officials.
Military expert Colonel Reisner told ntv.de in December regarding the embattled city of Avdiivka: “It may be that there will be a so-called straightening of the front. This means that stronger defensive lines will be used in order to protect the soldiers and not let them in to lose in a cauldron.”
From the Ukrainian perspective, the decision to go on the defensive was the right one. “The next few months over the winter will initially be characterized by the Ukrainian transition from the offensive to the defensive,” said Reisner, who also spoke of an “increasingly desperate and sobering” situation for Kiev’s troops.