Russian troops build multi-level defense on left bank of Kherson region, ISW
Russian troops building a multi-level defense in the Kherson region (Photo: Getty Images)
Russian troops applied the lessons learned from the defense of the Zaporizhzhia region and built multi-level fortifications on the left bank of the Dnipro River in the Kherson region, according to ISW.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has acknowledged that Russian forces have a "fairly serious" line of fortifications in the Kherson region. According to experts, the occupiers in the Kherson region are holding the line in "complex shelters built over several months".
Russian troops have also heavily mined the area around Krynky (30 km northeast of Kherson and 2 km from the Dnipro River), where Ukrainian forces are currently holding positions. The occupiers do not deploy their forces on the direct front line on the eastern bank, probably in an attempt to protect their personnel from Ukrainian artillery and drone attacks.
Interestingly, the Russian command in the Kherson sector has refused to deploy additional forces from the 70th Motorized Rifle Division and the 7th Air Assault Division, preferring instead to keep the remnants of these formations in the near rear areas and secondary defenses.
Russian troops in the Kherson region have reportedly not built any continuous visible defensive fortifications, and appear to have built a deeply dispersed network of individual fortifications located at a distance from the front line.
However, analysts believe that individual fortifications far from the contact line can only be effective if they remain hidden. Fall and winter weather conditions may reveal some of the Russians' hidden positions.
What preceded it
On November 17, the Ukrainian Armed Forces announced that it had conducted a series of successful operations on the left bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson. The Armed Forces managed to gain a foothold in several areas.
The General Staff stated that one of the main objectives of these operations was to push the occupiers away from the right bank of the Dnipro River to protect the civilian population from the constant shelling of the enemy.
It should be added that the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) military experts and analysts have previously spoken about the advance of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the left bank of the Kherson region. On November 13, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the regrouping of troops in the Kherson region.
