“Russian and Ukrainian Forces Dig In for Battle: Analyzing the Vast Defensive Network Developed in Occupied Territories and Russia”

2023-05-30 09:28:18

Trenches wind along the entire front line, lined with obstacles intended to contain Ukrainian movements. This defensive network is particularly visible south of Zaporijjia and in Crimea, two key sectors.

Ukraine has been announcing a counter-offensive for several months. His army would be “ready”according to the secretary of the National Security Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, quoted by the BBC, Saturday, May 27. On the Russian side, since the fall, the army has been building its defensive lines over hundreds of kilometres. It digs trenches, sows mines and “dragon’s teeth”, these pyramidal concrete structures, reinforces cities and protects roads…

These efforts are mapped by analyst Brady Africk, researcher at the American Enterprise Institute. Its data are not exhaustive and do not distinguish between the different types of structure and obstacles. However, they show the vastness of the network developed in the occupied territories and in Russia.

“Russian forces have been building fortifications since the start of the invasion”, explains Brady Africk to franceinfo. But the rhythm “intensified from November in the occupied regions of the South and East”, he details. This year, Russian forces began to build more fortifications “in the north of the Crimea, and along the roads and waterways leading to the peninsula“. In the spring, this work continued along the entire front line, which is a thousand kilometers long. “It may be due to renewed fears of a Ukrainian counter-offensive, a softening of the ground or a combination of factors.”

A multi-layered defense

Russian forces aim to “take as much territory as possible in the Donbass”, in order to respect Vladimir Putin’s roadmap, explains analyst Ulrich Bounat, specialist in Central and Eastern Europe. Their resources being limited, achieving this goal “so suppose to freeze the rest of the front, in particular by protecting the land corridor that connects Crimea to Russia”.

A network of trenches was dug little by little, set back from the front line, with artillery positions. It is preceded by multiple obstacles, such as anti-tank trenches three or four meters deep and “dragon’s teeth”. A last line is sometimes provided to provide fallback positions and store vehicles. The total depth of all these defensive structures can reach 30 km, according to a recent report (in English) of the Royal United Services Institute, a British think tank.

Trenches and “dragon’s teeth” on the outskirts of Soledar, in the Donetsk region occupied by the Russian army. (BRADY AFRICK / AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE)

Finally, the Russian forces make extensive use of minefields: anti-tank (Soviet TM-62, in particular), anti-personnel or mixed. “Mine firing systems can further complicate the work of Ukrainian sappers, in order to slow down the troops”explains Ulrich Bounat.

These lines are not intended to prohibit any crossing. On the other hand, they must curb as much as possible a possible counter-offensive and “to allow the Russian forces to have, permanently, a point of fallback”. When properly designed, they should direct attackers “in a certain direction, well covered by artilleryenlightens the analyst. The goal is to lead the enemy to where you think you are strongest.”

A complex system south of Zaporizhia

These efforts are particularly evident south of the city of Zaporizhia, one of the most strategic axes of potential reconquest for Ukraine. The Center for Journalistic Investigations (link in Ukrainian), a Ukrainian group, says it has identified a 70 km trench just north of Melitopol, the unofficial capital of the occupiers in the region. Tokmak, for example, is of strategic interest because its loss would cut Crimea off from other territories occupied by Russian forces. A ring of fortifications was therefore built around the city, and three layers of defense were installed in the north: an anti-tank trench, “dragon’s teeth” and a network of trenches housing artillery positions.

Several layers of defense have been installed north of the city of Tokmak, in the region of Zaporijjia (Ukraine). (BRADY AFRICK / AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE)

Further south, Crimea is also increasing its efforts to barricade itself, protecting, for example, the E97/M17 (North-West) and E105/M18 (North-East) highways. Again, a complex network of trenches and obstacles was unearthed. In February, the occupation leader Sergei Axionov, quoted by the Russian agency Interfax (link in Russian)had declared that these constructions fell under a “personal initiative”, decided in agreement with the Kremlin and financed from the Russian federal budget. He had then promised that the work would be completed in April – which is unverifiable, for lack of knowledge of the initial project. Defense lines have even been set up on some western beaches of the peninsula, in order to prevent a hypothetical Ukrainian amphibious operation.

“Ukrainian forces received armor and tanks to conduct a mechanical operationcontinues Ulrich Bounat. They will seek to go quickly into the depths, to create disorder and panic.” The Russian forces, they will try to stop these movements, to “allow artillery and aviation to intervene” against Ukrainian material. Western equipment therefore plays a central role in hitting Russian logistics and command posts in the rear. Ukrainians “require engineering capabilities to cross minefields (…) and break through obstacles”, declared Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of NATO, on May 24, demanding more support for kyiv.

A Russian soldier digs a trench in the second defensive line in the occupied region of Zaporizhia (Ukraine), April 15, 2023. (VALENTIN SPRINCHAK / TASS / SIPA)

Moreover, “the Russians know very well that these lines are observed by satellite”, emphasizes Ulrich Bounat. There is therefore a “willingness to discourage the Ukrainian forces by installing several lines in the most probable sectors for a counter-offensive”.

kyiv has also launched major projects

In other sectors, however, “these defensive lines respond more to a desire to display vis-à-vis the Kremlin”, says the analyst. Thus, the governor of the Russian region of Belgorod, Viatcheslav Gladkov, was one of the first to announce the installation of “dragon’s teeth”, in the fall of 2022. A way of positioning himself as a defender of the populations. But the interest of a defensive line in Russian territory is debated, a fortiori when it is reduced to a minimum. At the end of May, armed fighters crossed the border from Ukraine.

“These defensive lines are usually built with excavation material and Russian forces have sometimes used civilian contractors”, says Brady Africk. Several journalistic investigations revealed recruitment campaigns and the use of employees who sometimes came from Central Asia. Zigzag trenches, partial burial of “dragon’s teeth”… These works must however respect a military technique. The Russian army can count on an excavator unique in the world, Write the Washington Post (in English) : the BTM-3, capable of digging 800 m per hour.

A network of Ukrainian trenches in an unidentified location in the Zaporizhia region, May 17, 2023. (UKRINFORM)

Ukraine is no exception. In mid-May, the regional governor of Zaporizhia, Oleksandr Staroukh, gave journalists a tour a defensive device recently put in place. This is supposed to leave the Russian artillery at a distance, in order to prevent strikes on the city. “We have been working on it since the beginning of Marchhe commented, quoted by Ukrinform (in Ukrainian). Military engineers teamed up with civilian bulldozer operators, and the result was effective.” More broadly, all the Ukrainian regions concerned are digging the ground, which will bear the imprint of the conflict for decades.

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