Putin’s 45-mile-long ‘mega trench’: Russian troops dig huge defensive fortification

Vladimir Putin’s forces are building a massive trench across the Ukrainian-invaded Zaporizhzhia region as he prepares for a counter-offensive from Kiev’s armies.

The scar across the countryside – as seen from space – is about 70 kilometers long so far as Russia fears a repeat of last year, when Ukraine reclaimed parts of the territory.

After invading this part of Ukraine last year, Putin seems deeply concerned about holding onto this strategic region despite its illegal annexation to the Russian Federation.

The line is nearly 50 miles behind the current frontline, indicating that the Russians are afraid of how far back the Russian despot’s troops might be pushed.

The ‘megatrog’ was highlighted by the Ukrainian Center for Journalistic Research.

The extreme point of the Russian fortress to the west, revealed by images from the Sentinel-2 satellite, is located on the outskirts of the village of Semenivka.

This is about ten kilometers from the center of Melitopol.

In the east it runs to the village of Marynivka in the Primorskyi district.

The construction includes dugouts and anti-tank emplacements.

Digging of the trench started in September last year from two directions – according to reports with hired workers from Kyrgyzstan.

Some complained that they had not been paid correctly.

The giant cut has been ridiculed by Ukraine, saying the super-long injury would be Russia’s only success.

Natalya Gumenyuk, spokeswoman for Ukraine’s Southern Armed Forces, said, “Well, at least she [the Russians] something will win.

“There will be no second wins.

“Let them be record holders from the trenches.”

Seen by the Sentinel-2 satellite, the trench reflects defense lines being built in annexed Crimea – some of which lie on the popular holiday playground beaches.

Parts of the line have been broadcast by Russian propaganda TV, urging Central Asian mercenaries to “dig with sappers like in World War II.”

Yet the construction is a tacit acknowledgment of the failure of Putin’s invasion.

In February 2022, he believed Russian troops would be welcomed with flowers and dancing women as they took Kiev with the rest of the country soon after.

Instead, he now fears being driven back from the territory he currently still holds in Zaporizhzhia.

The revelations about the huge trench in Zaporizhzhia came after shelling over the weekend killed two people in the region’s capital (also called Zaporizhzhia).

Zaporizhzhia region governor Yurii Malashko said a total of 18 communities were shelled.

Three people were killed and five were injured on Saturday, Malashko said.

Zaporizhzhia is home to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant and one of four Ukrainian provinces that Putin illegally annexed in September.

Since then, the Russian military has attempted to expel Ukrainian troops from those areas, particularly Luhansk and Donetsk provinces, which form the industrial region known as the Donbas, which has long-standing ties with Russia.

Bakhmut, a city in Donetsk, has experienced the longest and most brutal battle of the 13-month war, which has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of troops.

Western analysts have said Russian troops have recently entered the center of the city.

The capture of Bakhmut after more than eight months would give the Kremlin a much-coveted victory and a path to push into larger Ukrainian-held cities.

The Russian army is moving elite units to Bakhmut, Colonel Serhiy Cherevaty, a spokesman for the eastern Ukrainian armed forces, said on Sunday.

Colonel Cherevaty said the Wagner Group, a private Russian military company whose fighters led the offensive on Bakhmut, suffered heavy casualties, necessitating the deployment of regular army units, including paratroopers and self-propelled gunners.

Between Saturday and Sunday morning, Russian forces launched 40 airstrikes, four rocket attacks and 58 multiple rocket launcher attacks on various parts of Ukraine, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported.

According to the General Staff, Russia targeted the communities in Donetsk province, Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Marinka.

Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Sunday morning that two civilians were injured on Saturday.

Officials in Kherson province, where Ukrainian troops forced a partial Russian retreat in November, said the southern region also suffered numerous attacks.

They reported no casualties.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said late Saturday that it thinks Russia’s general offensive is “approaching its peak.”

The institute quoted Ivan Tymochko, the head of Ukraine’s Council of Reserves for the country’s ground forces, as reporting that recent Russian strikes appeared to be designed to distract and disperse Ukrainian troops preparing for a possible counter-offensive.

“Tymochko stated that the Russian armed forces are not making any serious progress on the frontline anywhere,” the think tank said.

The institute noted that Russia has made heavy use of artillery to “compensate for significant shortcomings in combat capability,” and said reported ammunition shortages would “undermine the Russian military’s ability to continue to compensate for its other weaknesses and limitations.” “.

However, classified documents that have appeared online, with details ranging from Ukraine’s air defense to Israel’s Mossad spy agency, have left US officials scrambling to identify the source of the leak, with some experts saying it could be an American.

One of the documents, dated Feb. 23 and marked “Secret,” outlines in detail how Ukraine’s S-300 air defense systems would be exhausted by May 2 in current use — and could mean that Russia could control the course of the war with jets. could change.

Such closely guarded information could prove useful to Russian troops, and Ukraine said its president and top security officials met on Friday to discuss ways to prevent leaks.