Insufficient fortification of Ukrainian positions in some regions allows Russian troops to advance faster. In particular, unfinished defense lines remain in the Dnipropetrovsk region, creating strategic risks for Ukrainian defenders. This is stated in the Financial Times .
Ukraine is seeking to complete the construction of several lines of defense that could stop Russia's rapid advance, but Ukrainian officials and commanders say the effort is hampered by delays, a lack of coordination and a shortage of manpower.
As the Financial Times writes, Russian troops have made stunningly quick gains in the Donetsk region, and the front line in some places is only 15 km from the border with the Dnipropetrovsk region. If the Russians cross this line, it will be the first breakthrough into the new Ukrainian region since 2022 and will deal a significant blow to Kyiv's military efforts.
Fortifications in the Dnipropetrovsk region are incomplete
It is noted that the Dnipropetrovsk region from November 2023 to November 2024 spent 7.3 million dollars on fortifications. However, two officials in the field of construction said that this money did not give much and that the work was intensified only two months ago.
"The Financial Times reporter, who last month visited the regions of the Dnipropetrovsk region adjacent to Donetsk, saw several prepared positions and an anti-tank ditch, as well as several positions that are still under construction or abandoned, unfinished," the article reads.
A person responsible for building fortifications in Donetsk region told the FT that most of the defense lines in the region, particularly around major cities, were completed by the end of October. However, in the Dnipropetrovsk region there are still gaps between Velika Novosilka and Kurakhiv, as well as Kurakhiv and Pokrovsk, where the second line of fortifications is still being built, and the third line has not yet been laid.
As military analyst Rob Lee points out, the Russian engineering forces have long had an advantage in building fortifications with greater speed and quality compared to Ukraine. He added that after the capture of Vugledar, Russia was able to advance quickly because Ukraine "clearly did not have a large defense built behind it," which forced Ukrainian troops to retreat.
The problem is exacerbated by the lack of labor
One soldier, whose construction company built fortifications for the army before he and his subordinates were mobilized, said that defensive lines were not a priority:
"During the war, his unit was redeployed 32 times, and each time he had to build his own defensive positions and collect money for these purposes. Meanwhile, the second and third lines were often built without coordination with the troops, or in the wrong place, or too far from the first line."
Also, according to him, the problem lies in environmental laws, since the number of trees that could be cut down is limited.
"The Russians are cutting down our trees left and right, and we can't use them to build trenches!? We saw the fortifications that the Russians built on our land. If we had done the same, the situation with Pokrovsk would not have happened," he said.
Stanislav Bunyatov, the commander of the assault battalion, says that fortifications are also important to provide backup positions for exhausted infantry. "The combat potential of an infantryman will be reduced to zero if he has to spend his strength building positions during the day, especially in winter," he said.
According to him, ideally, the Ukrainian version of the US Army Corps of Engineers should be involved in the fortification, together with a centralized inspection military body that could go around the front lines to plan and control the works.
But there are so few people in the engineering units of Ukraine that the responsibility lies with the local authorities, who use infantry brigades as contractors, and a small number of engineers monitor the work on the first line of defense. In addition, many military engineers were transferred to the front line, as they are officially classified as "rear units".
If military engineers "were not sent on assault operations, but given the opportunity to professionally perform their work, dig trenches, prepare lines so that we could defend ourselves, then everything would work," says Bunyatov.
The situation at the front is news
The spokesman of the Defense Forces of Southern Ukraine, Vladyslav Voloshyn, said that the invaders are preparing for powerful assaults in the Zaporizhzhia region and are making their way to the border of the Dnipropetrovsk region.
The commander of the third operational brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine, Oleksiy Khilchenko, also noted that there are signs that the Russians are preparing for a large-scale offensive in the Zaporozhye region. Russian troops are accumulating and regrouping personnel and equipment.
