The south of Kherson oblast on the east bank of the Dnipro is turning into a fairly powerful and echeloned fortified area of the russian army. This is indicated by a detailed analysis of the Institute for the Study of War using satellite images. They recorded the creation of systematized defense nodes.
In general, dozens of separate defense nodes have been recorded, which block the main transport arteries and are aimed at countering the attack from the west. Thus, russia’s General Staff fully considers the possibility of conducting an amphibious operation by the Armed Forces of Ukraine to cross the Dnipro.
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According to the map, it is already possible to talk about the established defense network with the first line along the water artery and anti-amphibious defense on the Black Sea coast in the area of the Kinburn Spit. The second line of defense is located on the line of the E-58 route, T2206 and P-57 roads.
The third and fourth lines are forming behind them, which are already intended directly for the defense of the occupied Crimea. For convenience, these defense lines are additionally highlighted on the following map.
Of course, it’s not the russian army dug hundreds of kilometers in continuous lines, but formed a nodal defense. The nodes themselves are often located along logistics routes, which especially for the next 3-4 months will become the only passageways for wheeled vehicles.
The defense nodes themselves were formed not simply by creating platoon or even company strongholds, but with the extensive use of anti-tank fortifications, namely trenches. Of course, the terrain in front of such defense nodes is mined densely.
Some of them are immediately built for the conditions of circular defense, for example, on the E58 highway near the settlement of Stepne.
In this situation, an important point is that the line of defense nodes in the east of this fortified area is simultaneously a line of defense against a possible offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the direction of Zaporizhzhia. In this case, it is hardly possible to estimate the number and density of defense lines that the russian federation created in the south of Zaporizhzhia oblast.
Because in relation to the defense of the east bank of the Dnipro, it is quite difficult to call this direction the main one for any offensive actions. Forcing such a water obstacle, especially in winter, is an extremely large-scale and quite risky operation. In any case, all these data are perfectly known to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which have much more intelligence than 12 days old satellite images.
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