How can the Russian advance be stopped? Ukraine is trying to build multiple lines of defense. But that caused some problems and caused a lot of frustration, as the “Financial Times” (FT) now reports (source here).
Russia has made the biggest advances in the Donetsk region this year. The front line was moved west. An invasion of Russian troops into the Dnipropetrovsk region would significantly weaken Ukraine.
An FT reporter recently visited areas in the Dnipropetrovsk region. He writes that Dnipropetrovsk is said to have spent $7.3 million on fortifications from November 2023 to November 2024. The officials involved in the construction got little out of it for the money. There are significant gaps and these would endanger the entire Dnipropetrovsk region.
“The situation with the fortifications is another factor that demoralizes the troops”says Dmytro Razumkov, a former ally of President Volodymyr Zelensky. He now sits on a committee investigating delays and suspected corruption in defense construction. “The resources are scattered across all regions and everyone is building their own thing.” “There is no one person who is responsible for the quality, for the planning, for how and to whom these positions are transferred and who oversees them,” says he in conversation with the “FT”.
An infantry commander whose construction company built fortifications for the army before he and his staff were mobilized said: Defensive lines were still not a high priority. His unit was relocated 32 times during the war. Each time they were forced to set up their own defensive positions. At the same time, second and third lines were often established without consulting the troops, Either in the wrong place or too far from the first line.
Stanislav Buniatov, commander of an assault battalion, says fortifications are also important in providing retreat positions. “The combat potential of an infantryman is reduced to zero if he has to spend energy on building positions every day, especially in winter”he says. Many military engineers were sent to the front to fill gaps. If they “didn't skillfully carry out offensive operations, but could do their work professionally, dig trenches and prepare lines and borders so that we can defend ourselves, then everything would work,” Buniatov said. “Now the system either doesn’t work at all or only works to a limited extent.”
The most important news of the day:
- A man of German nationality was arrested in Russia for a suspected planned act of sabotage. As the Russian domestic secret service FSB announced, this is a Russian-German dual citizen. He was accused of planning an attack on the railway line in Nizhny Novgorod, about 450 kilometers east of Moscow. Read more about this here.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is hoping for an end to German reticence regarding the Taurus cruise missile under a possible future CDU Chancellor Friedrich Merz. “We can do a lot more,” said Zelenskyj in his video speech after the Union chancellor candidate’s visit to Kiev
- After his proposal for a Ukraine contact group, Union Chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz called on Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) to quickly work towards such a European format. “This proposal for a contact group should also be taken up by the German federal government now,” said the CDU leader after a meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in the capital Warsaw.
- Possible peace negotiations in the war between Russia and Ukraine could begin this winter according to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. After taking over the EU Council Presidency in January 2025, Poland will also be responsible for the situation “during the negotiations that may begin in the winter of this year,” Tusk said. Find out more in our news blog.
- If the Ukrainian army increases its troops with new recruits, the US military will provide additional help with equipping and training the soldiers. US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller made it clear: “As they raise additional forces to go into battle, we and our allies will be ready to equip and train those forces.”
- Three people were killed and 11 injured in a Russian missile attack on a clinic in Zaporizhzhia, the regional governor said. Accordingly, rescue workers are looking for buried victims. A person is in a critical condition.
