The Telegraph: Ukraine Builds its Huge ‘Surovikin Line’

It also touches the border with Belarus.

Kyiv began construction of large-scale defence lines along the front line, also on the border with Russia and Belarus.

Ukraine switched to the tactics of active defence and began to urgently build huge defensive lines in key areas of the front. Their length exceeds 1,000 km.

This is stated in the article of The Telegraph. The publication calls the grandiose defensive structures the "Ukrainian Surovikin line".

Hundreds of kilometers of trenches, concrete "dragon’s teeth", underground strongholds and command posts are quickly erected along the entire front line.

This is part of the tactics of active defence, the transition to which was announced by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky at the end of the last year – 2023.

Ukrainians are especially active in strengthening their rear in the areas of Lyman, Avdiivka and Kupiansk, where the Russian army is actively advancing.

New defensive lines appear not only at the front but also along the borders with Russia and Belarus.

Strengthened lines of defence, as journalists note, will further slow down the advancing army of the Russian Federation, as well as reduce the losses of the Ukrainian army.

In addition, the Ukrainian forces will require fewer troops to hold the front.

At the same time, the new tactics suggest that Kyiv at this stage had to moderate its ambitions to de-occupy the territories seized by the Russian army.

Freezing the front line is a problem for Kyiv. “Static defences are rarely a good idea for militaries, because it sort of fixes your own ability to manoeuvre… The skills and fitness of soldiers can easily degrade if they are sat in trenches for too long,” the article reads.

That is why, experts say, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have chosen the tactics of active defence. It provides that the Ukrainians will simultaneously hold the front line and look for the enemy's weaknesses to break the enemy's defences.

"It was a similar tactic that resulted in the surprise counter-offensive in September 2022 that saw Kyiv liberate swathes of territory in the Kharkiv region from Russian control," writes The Telegraph.