[Korrespondent] Ukraine is developing its counteroffensive in the south of the country, where the main challenge is to break through the defense line built by the Russian occupiers.
The Russian defense line in the south of Ukraine is called the largest defensive structure in Europe since the Second World War. And yet, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are already successful in breaking through such a line.
What is the Russian line of defense?
The Russians began building defensive structures in October 2022, after a successful counteroffensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kharkov and Kherson regions.
As a result, in the south of Ukraine they managed to create a defensive zone hundreds of kilometers long.
“The Russians approached the engineering and fortification equipment in the southern direction quite competently. This multi-component defense line consists of a large anti-tank ditch that cannot be crossed by armored vehicles. Then there is a line of so-called “dragon teeth” made of concrete pyramids in three to five rows. And between this there are mine-explosive barriers. And only after that there is a direct line of trenches and trenches,” notes Anton Muraveinik, head of the analytical department of the Come Back Alive Foundation.
Everything that goes in front of the main line of reinforced (sometimes concrete) trenches is called the “forefield”. It should delay the advance of Ukrainian forces. The “forefields” are mined as much as possible - these are huge impassable areas that must be overcome in order to get to the main lines of defense.
At the same time, there are already Russian positions in this zone, but rather in the form of “fox holes” - systems of small trenches and dugouts.
The maps show that the Russians dug in, for example, the village of Ocheretovatoye and the city of Tokmak, which is one of the strategic targets of the offensive of the Ukrainian forces.
THE BREAKTHROUGH IS COMING
And despite all this, the Ukrainian army managed to pass the “forefield” in the area of the village of Rabotino and break through the first line of defense of the Russians.
The day before, the Tauride group of troops said that we should soon expect “good news in the Zaporozhye direction.”
“Entering operational space can be considered a breakthrough of the entire line of defense that the Russians had been digging for nine months. And access to operational space in the Zaporozhye direction is only possible somewhere in the Tokmak area... It’s probably not worth talking about a big breakthrough yet. We can say that the first lines of continuous defense, which the Russians opened almost from Vasilyevka to Volnovakha, have been passed.
We are now opening the last line in the Novoprokopovka area, in the Rabotino area. The last three or four days have been a very painstaking and difficult work of our assault groups and commanders who carry out these tactical tasks in this direction. They led to quite serious problems for the Russians. We have already opened this last line and have already entered the north of Novoprokopovka, transferring part of Verbovoy to the gray zone. There are no Russians in most of the village itself: we semi-surround it. Further movement in these directions will give us the opportunity to move along the line of defense - not a continuous one. These are Russian focal garrison fortifications. You can maneuver between them. They can be semicircled, encircled,” notes military expert Roman Svitan.