The Ukrainian army has decided to barricade itself in trenches in the face of a long and difficult winter in order to stop the ongoing Russian offensive on all fronts and not to lose more territory, especially in the Donetsk region, the EFE news agency reported on Friday. , quoted by Agerpres.

“Departments of the State Special Transport Service are erecting fortifications in designated areas,” the General Staff of Ukraine reported, without providing details.

So far, Ukraine has not chosen such a defensive tactic, as it expected that its troops would be able to liberate a large part of the territory occupied by Russia in the counteroffensive launched on June 4, but for now, the Ukrainian counteroffensive seems to be completely blocked.

The photos accompanying the Ukrainian General Staff report show structures dug underground and reinforced with logs and concrete.

As his troops have been on the defensive in recent weeks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi has ordered the construction of fortifications to halt the enemy advance in an early October offensive by Russian troops.

“Surovikin Line”, a successful tactic for the Russians

These fortified structures resemble a tactic used by the Russian army itself when threatened by a Ukrainian counteroffensive, a tactic that later proved successful and is known as the “Surovikin Line”, after the Russian general who led this defense. line, but in the meantime fell into disgrace after being suspected of supporting the uprising of Wagner’s mercenaries led by Yevgeny Prigozhin in June.

These complex defensive lines, divided into several levels and protected by minefields, are considered the main reason for the failure of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, in which Kyiv lost a large number of soldiers and equipment during the assault of its mechanized troops from the first days. brigades in Russian positions on three offensive lines in Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk provinces.

In his major press conference at the end of the year, President Zelensky cited as an example the fortifications already built on the front line in the northeastern Kharkiv province, where the Russian army has mobilized significant resources to try to capture the strategic city of Kupyansk. , and asked that these structures be erected in other areas of the front as well, reproaching the commanders of the armies that they had not yet done so. “When I see it here, but not in other regions, I ask specific questions to military commands in other sectors. Enough? And then why is (protection) weaker than in Kharkiv?” Zelenskyy asked.

This also applies to the sector of Avdiyivka, a city in eastern Donetsk region, which the Russians have been trying to capture for three months. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US-based think tank, acknowledged in its daily report on Thursday that Russian forces had advanced slightly towards the city. Ukrainian generals estimate the number of troops concentrated by the Russian army on this part of the front at about 25,000 people, where Russian troops have recorded, according to Kyiv, about 80% of the total losses in this war in recent months.

In general, Kyiv admits that Russian troops have advanced in several sections of the front, but no more than two kilometers. For its part, Moscow also admitted that, despite the failure of the counteroffensive, “at the cost of colossal losses, the Ukrainian army gained minor offensives on the flank (southern district) of Zaporizhzhia, without even having time to overcome the tactical defense.” Military zone,” said the statement of the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, General Valery Gerasimov.

He also claimed that, in addition to holding positions, Russian troops are “constantly expanding the zone of control in all directions.”

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