Russia and its puppet administrations in Ukraine have strengthened defenses in four occupied territories in recent months. Satellite images show the Kremlin’s desperate measures to stop an imminent Ukrainian counteroffensive, La Razon reports, citing Rador.

“Dragon’s Teeth” in World War IIPhoto: AP / AP – The Associated Press / Profimedia

The Russian military has built miles of fences, walls, trenches and ditches to block the advance of Ukrainian troops in a long-awaited operation that could potentially change the war.

Russian troops relied on the so-called “dragon’s teeth”, reinforced concrete pyramid-shaped anti-tank obstacles that had been used to impede the movement of tanks and motorized infantry since World War II.

This is one of its main tools for preventing the invasion of main battle tanks of the latest generation, which are already in Kyiv’s service.

Satellite images show that in addition to the “dragon’s teeth”, the Russian military has developed a system of echelon defense along the front line, consisting of anti-tank ditches, minefields and “iron hedgehogs”, a network of trenches and barbed wire. The system also targets the depth of the occupied territories, including access to Melitopol, Zaporizhia Oblast, and the Crimean Peninsula.

The effectiveness of these defense systems will largely depend on the ability of Russian forces to repel a Ukrainian assault, analysts say, but they will certainly slow the advance.

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, headed by Oleksiy Reznikov, released a video showing how the British Challenger 2 tank destroys the “dragon’s teeth” on its way.

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