For weeks, Russian troops have been digging in in the Cherson region. According to the ISW think tank, however, the field fortifications have a number of shortcomings.
In early October, Russia's armed forces began building defensive positions on the east bank of the Dnipro. According to the US think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the strongholds in the Kherson region indicate that Moscow expects another Ukrainian counter-offensive across the river. According to the analysts, however, Russia's fortifications have a number of serious weaknesses.
According to satellite images, the Kremlin's troops are prioritizing positions along the main supply routes, connecting the Dnipro bank to Crimea and the eastern hinterland to the Melitopol hub. Most of the fortifications are along the main roads themselves and are often oriented perpendicular to the carriageway itself, according to the ISW's current situation report. Only a handful of the positions are in open terrain. As such, they would resemble separate roadblocks rather than elements of a coherent line of defense.
The tiered defensive ramparts provide Russian forces with retreat options should a position fall. However, the positions are optimized to stop Ukrainian forces advancing along the main roads. However, in their counter-offensive in the Kharkiv region, the Ukrainian armed forces often advanced across country in order to bypass Russian positions and thus advance more quickly to strategically important transport hubs such as Kupyansk and Izyum.
Another weak point according to ISW: Many of the fortifications do not extend far enough over the streets to create an optimal field of fire. In addition, the flanks are often exposed and only insufficiently secured. Many of the positions would also not be within support distance of each other, making them vulnerable to encirclement. The anti-tank obstacles erected in many places in the form of dragon's teeth are often not long enough to prevent Ukrainian tanks from simply bypassing and encircling the Russian positions.
