Ukraine is digging its own “Surovikin Line” against the impending Russian offensive, writes The Telegraph and publishes maps of the location of these fortifications.
According to the newspaper, plans are underway to build more than 600 miles (965 kilometers) of new concrete trenches and underground command posts.
The main efforts are currently underway around the Lyman and near Avdiivka , as well as near Kupyansk. The publication specifies that the main defensive line is being built approximately 16 kilometers west of Avdiivka. “Here, Ukraine is using a series of natural barriers from lakes and rivers,” the article says.
Another line is in the city of Pokrovsk, “which Russia must capture in order to fulfill its mission of capturing the entire Donetsk region.” Pokrovsk is protected by a two-tiered trench system that runs throughout the city.
The most powerful of the new defense lines may be around Chernihiv, the publication writes. However, as it specifies, “there are no expectations that this area will become a new front.”.
According to the newspaper, the Ukrainian defense resembles the “Surovikin Line,” where the Russians stopped a Ukrainian counteroffensive this summer.
First come the minefields, then the networks of trenches and fortified command centers. In some areas where the front is static, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have placed fortifications about a kilometer apart.
However, the publication notes that the new fortifications, although they will allow Ukraine to save more lives, will “reduce Kyiv’s ambitions to regain the occupied territory.”.
“Ukraine’s goal for 2024, apparently, is to replenish its battle-scarred forces and restore offensive combat power by the end of next year,” the article says.
