While Ukraine struggles with flooding, Russia attacks Odessa
The extensive network of defenses Russia has built in occupied Ukraine – including minefields, trenches and concrete pyramids known as “dragon’s teeth” – poses a formidable challenge to Ukrainian forces as they attempt to push south into the Zaporizhzhia region, according to a report released Friday.
Moscow has “engineered one of the largest defense systems in Europe since World War II,” said analysts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based research group.
The report, based largely on satellite data, notes that Ukrainian troops in Zaporizhzhia would have to fight through layers of defensive positions more than six miles deep or attempt a high-risk operation to cross the Dnipro River.
The number of fortifications Russia has installed in the Zaporizhia region since 2022 is more than double the number built in other fighting regions of Ukraine, the report found, citing satellite data.
Zaporizhzhia has become a focus of intensified fighting in recent days as Ukrainian troops mount an offensive that military analysts say is an attempt to break Moscow’s hold on territory connecting Russia to occupied Crimea.
The report’s authors – Seth G. Jones, Alexander Palmer and Joseph S. Bermudez Jr. – wrote that the Russian defensive layers were designed to prevent Ukrainian troops from converging in the occupied cities of Melitopol and Berdiansk and cutting Russia’s occupied territory in half. . Such a breakthrough, they said, would disrupt Moscow’s supply lines and represent “a worst-case scenario for Russia”.
Overall, Russia’s defense line — which stretches about 600 miles of Ukrainian territory, according to the report — is more than double the length of the Maginot Line, the defense line France erected to stop a German invasion before World War II , mr. Jones said in an interview.
Still, Mr Jones said, no matter how extensive Russian defenses are, “there are always vulnerabilities to extensive fortifications”, especially of an attacking army, such as Ukraine’s, engaged in “a fight for survival”.
He said he expected Ukrainian forces to use drones and other technology to overcome the defenses. They could also sabotage behind enemy lines and use intelligence, in part from Western allies, to find out which parts of the fortified line were poorly built or weakly manned.
Satellite images suggest that at least some of Russia’s fortifications are of low quality, Jones said. Some images show concrete pyramids known as “dragon’s teeth” that appear unconnected underground, potentially making them vulnerable to being submerged, the report said. Others sit on top of the Earth when they are believed to be partially underground, or appear to have been eroded by weather, it added.
Ultimately, Mr Jones said, regardless of their quality, fortifications are “only as good as the forces they defend”.