Why Ukrainian military can't bypass Russian defense lines in south: Expert insights
Illustrative photo (Photo: Getty Images)
Ukrainian military will not be able to bypass the fortifications of the Russian occupiers in the south, as all defensive lines there are built at approximately the same level. This was stated by the head of the Center for Military-Legal Studies, Oleksandr Musiienko, in a comment to RBС-Ukraine.
According to him, if Ukrainian defenders had the opportunity to bypass enemy defense lines, they would have taken advantage of it. For example, the soldiers could have conducted a flanking operation on the left bank of the Kherson region, where the enemy's fortifications might not be as strong.
"Although our forces are trying to do this now, the enemy is resisting, so, most likely, the defense lines are roughly the same everywhere in the south," Musiienko stated.
In turn, military-political analyst of the "Information Resistance" group, Oleksandr Kovalenko, explained that when choosing a path for an advance, our military was interested not so much in the density of the Russian defense, but rather in the directions in which they could progress.
"If somewhere the defense is not as dense, but there are fields, forests, and swamps, then advancing will be much more difficult than through a saturated defense but with logistical potential. Important factors also include the presence of dominant heights, geographical, and landscape features," Kovalenko clarified.
Breakthrough of the Russian defense line in the south
Earlier the Chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, stated that Ukrainian military forces likely had breached the first line of Russian defense in the south during the counteroffensive.
Meanwhile, the Institute for the Study of War asserts that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have approached the second line of Russian defense in the Zaporizhzhia direction.
You can find more detailed information about the Russian defense in the south in RBC-Ukraine material.
