(Dan Tri) – Ukraine’s changing tactics may make it more difficult for Russia to make progress on the battlefield.
Ukrainian soldiers inspect the `dragon tooth` anti-tank fortification near the Russian border (Photo: Reuters).
Ukraine last month announced it would invest nearly 500 million USD to build fortifications.
Riley Bailey, a Russia analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, said that Ukraine’s defense system would make it `more difficult for Russian forces to attack fortified positions directly.`
`They showed the usual difficulty in doing this,` said expert Bailey.
According to experts, the problem for Russia is that in the war in Ukraine, attacking an area is more difficult than defending that area.
Attack is often more difficult than defense in ground combat, and experts say this is especially true in the conflict in Ukraine.
According to Patrick Bury, a military analyst at Britain’s University of Bath, defending is easier because both sides have the same weapons and both struggle with weapon shortages.
He said that although the war situation might be different if NATO deployed more weapons, `defense capabilities appear to be dominant,` especially between the Russian and Ukrainian militaries.
Other experts also agree with the above view, saying that Ukraine needs more modern weapons to overcome.
Russian vehicles caught fire in the city of Avdiivka, Ukraine (Photo: BI).
Ukraine struggled to make major headway in its counteroffensive over the summer, after Russia spent months mounting defenses that included minefields, dragon teeth and trenches.
However, Russia also has difficulty gaining control over new territories.
Despite its advantages in manpower and artillery, Russia has made virtually no progress in its 2022 winter offensive and has not won any major victories in the offensive campaign that began last October.
Expert Bailey said that additional Ukrainian fortifications will make Russia’s decision-making more difficult.
`Maybe Russia will have to ask questions about how to attack to control territories,` said expert Bailey.
“Ukraine has done better on attacks than what Russia has done in general,” said William Alberque, who runs the arms control program at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
But Ukraine is short of ammunition and weapons, while Russia has significantly more firepower.
A Ukrainian lieutenant said this made it difficult for Ukrainian soldiers to attack.
Ukraine does not want to give up its goal of regaining territories.
Ukrainian officials have said they want to launch another counteroffensive this year.
However, according to expert Bailey, if Ukraine launches a major attack, `these defensive positions provide a favorable position for them to carry out such operations.`
`Ukraine needs to create these defensive lines to guard against and create traps to weaken Russia’s offensive capabilities as much as possible and then fight back,` expert Alberque added.
Jack Watling, an expert on land warfare, said that fortifications could help Ukrainian soldiers `free their hands` to do other tasks such as training.
Ukraine does not seem to give up its attack efforts.
