Ukraine: They dug new trenches and laid more mines

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry announced over the weekend that the military is strengthening its defenses along the Russia-Belarus border, the state news agency reported. ukrinform.

Lieutenant General Serhiy Naif wrote about cable.

last week More than 6,000 mines have been laid to protect combat vehicles in dozens of fields. At the same time, seven-kilometer trenches and tank trenches were dug along the borders with neighboring countries.

All posts are covered with wood to enable our soldiers to perform their duties more efficiently. Ukrainian soldiers work around the clock, regardless of weather conditions.

The Ukrainians were exactly that They built their new lines of fortification inconspicuous. Lieutenant Colonel Johan Hoevenen, a military instructor in the Department of Strategy at the Defense Academy, believes it is a connected system of mines, trenches and tank trenches on the main roads from the north to the capital Kiev.

– The mines are probably placed a few meters apart in a zigzag pattern so that tanks cannot cross. Tank mines break the armor protection of combat vehicles and render them useless. Then they become easier targets for artillery and anti-tank robots.

Tank trenches slow enemy vehicles and “steer” them so they can’t run wide. But force is relatively easy to use, the enemy often has single tanks with bulldozers that can fill trenches with earth. Huovinen calls the constructions a “poor man’s solution.”

– You can take what you have. Reservoir trenches are better than nothing, but not ideal. The Ukrainians would have been better off deploying more mines, if they had them.

From the trenches, the Ukrainians could observe the enemy as well as the fire of anti-tank robots and artillery. They make it possible to defend areas at long range, soldiers get time to practice fighting positions and build up a functioning coherent fire network.

Before Russia full scale Invading in February, the Ukrainians had no major fortifications, except for small roadblocks.

– Partly they did not have the resources, partly the purpose was to restore the terrain. Huovinen says mine clearance is very labor intensive and time consuming.

Perhaps the reason why the army is building fortifications now is to prepare for a possible invasion from the north, from Russia’s Russian or Belarusian units. If that happens, the Ukrainians will want to ensure they can defend the territory with as few units as possible, perhaps by placing Territorial units—the equivalent of the Home Guard—in the trenches. This means that other regular combat forces are freed up for other purposes.

– If Ukraine starts an offensive in the southern direction, it can be assumed that Russia starts an offensive in the north to make Ukraine divert resources and weaken its offensive.

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