2023-08-28 12:29:00
Even as Ukrainian units have broken through the first line of Russian defenses on part of the southern front, soldiers have been describing how difficult it is to achieve more than incremental advances in the face of complex, multi-layered fortifications.
Ukrainian forces claim to have taken one village, Robotyne, in the Zaporizhia region, and are moving towards several others in an attempt to bring the strategic center of Tokmak within artillery range.
A communications specialist soldier named Oleksandr Solonko explained in detail the difficulties in advancing in the area, with the support of others.
The topography of the land: Firstly, the topography of the region has left many Ukrainian troops exposed.
“Whoever you are, a raiding party, an evacuation mission, air or ground reconnaissance, your movements are visible from afar. The enemy has been preparing to engage you for a long time,” he said.
“There are a limited number of access roads and logistics routes. Everything has been shot and shelled repeatedly every day. You will almost certainly be discovered. It is basically impossible to get the job done while remaining completely invisible to the enemy.”
On Friday, a Ukrainian officer from a frontline unit also told CNN that the open terrain posed a challenge, with drones from both sides flying over the area.
“It is impossible to hide any team movement, any maneuver immediately becomes known to the enemy and the shelling begins either with artillery or drones,” he said.
The officer added that, unlike in Bakhmut, there were no cellars to take refuge in.
Trenches and minefields: Solonko also said that the Russian fortifications were elaborate. “There is a whole system of trenches, ditches, actual tunnels in some places… Automatic grenade launchers, machine guns, anti-tank missile systems. Anti-tank ditches and minefields are spread across the fields.”
“What is not unearthed is mined. We have to go through all this to move forward,” he said.
Multiple accounts in recent weeks tell of Ukrainian sappers—soldiers tasked with clearing minefields—advancing slowly, with some of the weapons activated by tripwires placed heavily as the first line of defense by the Russians.
“Our positions in the retaken territory are surrounded by mines and tripwires. Paths are being opened to enter, sappers are gradually clearing the territory.”
air power: Solonko also acknowledged the loss of Ukrainian armor in the region “due to the enemy’s superiority in the air.”
“Guided aerial bombs are one of the biggest fears. The Russians use them on a large scale. I can’t judge the accuracy, but the weapon has formidable power,” he said.
According to Solonko, the Russians extensively use drones to monitor and attack Ukrainian positions. “They identify targets and drop Lancets in swarms, as well as guided bombs.”
But he claims that US-donated vehicles are saving lives, and a soldier he had spoken to revealed that he had twice survived a direct attack on Bradley (combat vehicles).
The defenses are deep: analysts have said there are deeply entrenched defenses ahead. OSINT analyst Emil Kastehelmi notes that “the Russians have built communication trenches 100-350m long, which helps them both reinforce and withdraw fighting positions.”
“Strong fortifications are being built to block any potential advance on the main road to Tokmak,” Kastehelmi wrote this Sunday in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
The Institute for the Study of War commented in its latest assessment of the front line that “Ukrainian forces are now within close range of the next series of Russian defensive positions, which appears to be a relatively more contiguous set of trenches. anti-tank and anti-tank obstacles in the form of dragon’s teeth, with Russian fighting positions behind these obstacles similar to the previous layer of Russian defenses.”
ISW added: “The highly interconnected trench and trench systems that the Ukrainian soldier described are the result of months of Russian preparation. It is unclear whether Russian forces extended that system throughout subsequent series of defensive positions further south.”
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