Before the coming winter, Vladimir Putin’s mercenaries are holed up in the occupied territories and set up a huge line of defenses against tanks.
The Ukrainian counter-offensive came to a standstill after the liberation of the city of Lyman in the north-east of the country. According to Russian sources, Kiev’s next major blow is to come in the south near Cherson. In fact, the city on the right bank of the Dnipro is of the highest strategic importance. The administration of the Russian occupiers has already been evacuated to the other side of the river, civilians are to follow. Meanwhile, the Russian army wants to hold the city “until death.”
More on that: There is no chance of an end to the war in Ukraine for that long
Although observers could hardly see any movement in the past few weeks on the front between the already Russian-occupied city of Lysychansk (Luhansk Oblast) and Bakhmut (Donetsk Oblast), which is still under siege, significant things are happening there. In this corner, the mercenaries of the notorious Wagner group are in charge and they are now preparing with tons of concrete and heavy equipment to defend the conquered areas against possible Ukrainian tank offensives before the so-called mud season and the approaching winter.
special equipment in action
Putin’s rough cuts are in the process of erecting a mile-long line of defenses of anti-tank obstacles – concrete pyramids placed on the ground –, ramparts and ditches near the small town of Hirske near Popasna and beyond. The mercenaries dig their way across the country with heavy special equipment, pioneering machines MDK-3 from the Soviet era. They are supposed to cover a distance of around 800 to 1,000 meters per day.
The excavation and construction of the so-called “Wagner Line” is intended to protect areas previously defended by separatist fighters from Luhansk. Probably the most important reason: The mercenary group wants to prevent such a disgrace as with Lyman in their combat zone.
“Like Maginot Line”
“If the enemy breaks through, we are ready to stop him. The Wagner group never gives up positions and always goes on the offensive, even with few fighters,” boasted one of the mercenaries in an interview with the RIAFAN agency. “In the near future” the “Wagner Line” will join the “legendary fortifications of past wars such as the Maginot Line,” according to the propaganda-filled report.
All current developments in the Ukraine war at a glance >
However, the historical model did little to help the French during the Wehrmacht attack in 1940: German armored units broke through a weak point in the Ardennes and thus bypassed the Maginot Line. A month and a half after the German offensive, France had to capitulate.
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