OPEN LETTER/ Come to the dialogue and listen to me speak, otherwise I will cut off your scholarships, you will rot in prison. Please!

 Kliko këtu për të tjera
Voxpress:

Counteroffensive: Where are the weak points of the Russian army?

2023-05-04 21:12:26Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA DANIIL SOTNIKOV
Counteroffensive: Where are the weak points of the Russian army?
Counteroffensive: Where are the weak points of the Russian army?

Russia is preparing for Ukraine's counteroffensive and has set up fortifications on a land strip of several hundred kilometers. What awaits the Ukrainian army in the fight for the liberation of its territories?

Since December, the Russian army has been erecting defensive fortifications along the entire battle front line. Satellite images show that the troops that marched into Ukraine in February 2022 are opening trenches at important strategic points and that they are preparing for a counteroffensive. According to the data of the British secret service, there have been no such military complexes in the whole world for decades. Even Reuters reports, after analyzing several thousand satellite images, that in the Russian border regions as well as in eastern and southern Ukraine, thousands of fortifications, vehicle blockades and trenches stretching for several hundred kilometers have been erected.

Rob Lee, a researcher at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia, believes that Russia has learned from Ukraine's counteroffensive last year. "After the offensive in Kharkov, Russia understood that failure is possible, and territories can be lost. I think it was understood that Ukraine can develop counter-offensives."

What fortifications are the Russians building?

Mostly deep trenches are built, as deep as a man can stand. In front they are protected with sandbags or stones. The Russian infantry will thus be protected from bullets, shrapnel and artillery fire. Along the roads there are many such trenches as well as near the cities. This is reported by Brady Africk of the "American Enterprise Institute" in Washington, who has seen many of the satellite images. The footage, he says, shows that the Russians want to block Ukrainian military vehicles with World War II-style tank blockers, trenches and concrete blocks. They are also laying landmines.

Where the fortifications have been erected, the Russian commandos are apparently expecting Ukrainian attacks, both in the region of Zaporizhia and in the strip of land that connects Ukraine with Crimea. The retired major general of the Australian army, Mick Ryan, assumes that the southern part of Ukraine, especially Zaporizhia, will be the focus of the Ukrainian counteroffensive. "These are fortifications to be taken into account that have been erected in the last six months," says Olah Shdanov, a Ukrainian military expert. But he emphasizes that these are fortifications at certain points. For example, the road network east of Melitopol is not blocked by fortifications.

Measures against Russian weak points

Niklas Masuhr from the Center for Security Studies at the University of Zurich, ETH, believes that the Russians with the fortifications are not so much trying to soften the blows of the Ukrainian forces, as to make the Ukrainians pay a high price for the counter-offensive. theirs. "Fortifications create a certain predictability and structure future operations. This mitigates Russia's weaknesses, because the Ukrainian military is usually stronger at improvisation and frequently changing military situations." Rob Lee from the "Foreign Policy Research Institute" finds that the concentration of its forces in a certain segment creates an advantage for the Ukrainians and enables them to penetrate deeply into the territories occupied by Russia.

Counteroffensive: Where are the weak points of the Russian army?
28th Brigade on the front line, Bahmut

.

Ukrainian air defense and Russian combat morale

The military expert, Olev Shdanov, says that the satellite images still do not show the positions of the artillery. The Russians will occupy these positions shortly before the fighting begins. Another factor to consider is the Russian Air Force, which, due to Russian air defenses, rarely penetrates the airspace controlled by Kiev. "It is important that the Ukrainian counterattack forces have sufficient air defense systems to directly protect the troops. Air defense will protect them at the tactical-operational level, and this can cover entire territories. This is a serious factor and that should be taken into consideration", according to Shdanov.

But the result of Ukraine's counteroffensive does not depend only on this. According to Shdanov, it doesn't matter how deep you go into the trench or behind the fortifications. "It all depends on the soldier's willingness to defend and his emotional and psychological state."

And Franz-Stefan Gady, an expert on modern warfare and analyst at the "Institute for International Strategic Studies" in London is of the opinion that "Ukraine's goal should be to paralyze the Russian military command and panic the Russian soldiers." Tactical surprise, battlefield leadership and morale will be crucial in the first 24 hours of the war, Gady told CNN. In modern wars, small maneuverable groups take part in offensives, according to Shdanov, which became clear in the liberation of the Kharkov region. "They see to it that panic and chaos are created in the enemy, and then the main bodies do the last bit."

What is the role of Western military aid?

To break the resistance of the fortifications and liberate the occupied territories, according to expert Rob Lee, Ukrainian tanks must act in coordination with other armored vehicles, artillery and military aircraft. At this point, military supplies from the west will help. Oleh Shdanov mentions US military equipment MICLIC for mine clearance and German "Biber" tanks for passing small obstacles. Ukraine has also received minesweeping tanks. According to expert Niklas Masuhr, Western support is also important in enabling Ukrainian troops to operate in combined groups and their effective connection. Both support with ammunition and information from Western secret services will play a decisive role, according to the expert. For his part, Major General Mick Ryan says, that wise planning is more important. "The most important help they receive is not military material, but the training of soldiers of battalions, brigades and commandos in connection with complex armed operations." One thing is clear to expert Masuhr, previous counteroffensives were directed against weak and disoriented Russian troops. "The current situation is completely different."/DW


Në përputhje me standarded JTI

Video

SHIKO KANALIN NE YOUTUBE
×