Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Sergey Adamov
[REGNUM] The Ukrainian army is actively increasing the pace of construction of new defensive lines. Military analysts studying satellite images published by commercial companies have drawn attention to the progress of the work.
The new line consists of two defensive lines located 10-15 kilometers apart. The first line, in turn, is created approximately 10 km from the current line of defense.
On flat areas, barriers are created with several rows of barbed wire or "razor wire", which makes it difficult for infantry and mobile equipment to move.
The defensive line also includes two or three anti-tank ditches, reinforced with concrete barriers called “dragon’s teeth”.
In this case, the barriers are connected with steel cables and also wrapped with wire to make it difficult for sappers and engineering equipment to work.
The enemy is also creating fortified shelters from drones for infantry soldiers and is trying to use the terrain to its advantage, military expert Alexander Romanenko explained to Regnum News Agency.
Initially, the Ukrainian Armed Forces began preparing for defense by creating a second, that is, more distant from the front line, line of defense, and by mid-July they had practically completed its construction.
Then work began much closer to the front line.
But still outside the main settlements of the northern part of Donbass, which still remain under the control of Ukrainian troops.
WHERE THEY BUILD
The scale of the line being created is impressive: fortifications stretch from the Kharkiv region (from the area of the city of Izyum) to the south - all the way to the Zaporizhia region. A number of analysts believe that Kyiv is considering the possibility of withdrawing from some of the existing defensive lines in the Donbas.
According to information that has appeared on the Internet, active work is underway to the west of the city of Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk in Ukrainian terminology). The defensive line consists of anti-tank ditches, concrete barriers and so-called "dragon's teeth", trenches and ditches.
Barrier lines are also being built in the rear of the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration.
Special attention during construction is paid to the city of Dobropolye, which has become a major logistics hub over the past six months. Military transport from the Kharkov region to Krasnoarmeysk and Slavyansk passes through it.
As Russian troops advanced in the Krasnoarmeysk direction, several lines of trenches were dug around Dobropolye.
At the same time, some of the defensive structures already extend beyond the Donbass and are located in the territories of the Kharkiv and Dnepropetrovsk regions. This region is characterized by a predominantly flat terrain, without large settlements.
"There is a section at the junction of the borders of the DPR and Dnipropetrovsk region, in the area of the village of Shevchenko. Analysis of maps shows that there is swampy, difficult terrain there. The enemy takes and builds fortifications in such a way that the flank is covered by this section. This is just a local example," Romanenko points out.
The main, more distant line of defense extends from the northern borders of the Donbass all the way to Kharkov. Behind it are several small settlements — Velykyi Burluk, Shevchenkove, and Izyum — that could be converted into “fortress cities.”
WHY ARE THEY BUILDING?
A version is put forward: the very fact of creating defensive lines in the deep rear indicates that the Ukrainian command is allowing a retreat from several cities of the DPR: Seversk, Krasny Liman and Dimitrov (Mirnograd), Konstantinovka, Krasnoarmeysk, Slavyansk, Kramatorsk and Druzhkovka.
However, this does not mean that Kiev has decided to leave its positions without a fight, military expert and reserve officer Alexander Mikhailovsky suggested in a commentary to IA Regnum. He is skeptical about the above-formulated version that the Ukrainian Armed Forces command is allowing a quick retreat.
"It is highly unlikely that they were going to flee somewhere. There were no prerequisites or precedents for this. Why are they building so far away? Engineering work near the front, within range of artillery and tactical drones, is suicide. They would like to do it closer, perhaps, but there is no opportunity," the expert believes.
However, the work can be considered a sign that the option of retreat as such is being considered in principle, Mikhailovsky added. Although Kyiv has previously repeatedly declared its readiness to fight to the last. The Ukrainian Armed Forces still have two lines of defense directly in Donbas.
The first is the Krasnoarmeyskaya agglomeration, which has been prepared for assault for the past sixty months. The second is the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration, to which we can add the cities of Konstantinovka and Druzhkovka, located to the south, with their industrial zones and residential areas.
Even despite the gradual subsidence of the front line in Donbas, the enemy can impose heavy urban battles, similar to how the defense of Mariupol, Avdiivka, Artemovsk and other "fortress cities" was organized. On the other hand, over the years of military actions, Russian troops have already perfected the tactics of encircling and blocking enemy garrisons, which is forcing Kyiv to change its plans.
Since it will be problematic to hold the front in such conditions, the enemy is trying to change the landscape in its favor in advance, so to speak. However, the prospects for this enterprise are dubious, Mikhailovsky believes.
"The fate of all defensive lines, starting with the Maginot Line, the Siegfried Line or the Mannerheim Line, is that they are eventually broken through. The Ukrainian conflict is no exception. There was already the Poroshenko Line, also planned as a reserve fortification system approximately 20 kilometers from the then demarcation line. Our troops "jumped" over it. Why? An ABC truth: castles are not guarded by walls, but by people on the walls. And there are no people. The new Zelensky Line may suffer the same fate," the expert adds.
WHY THE UKRAINIAN ARMED FORCES ARE GOING INTO DEEP DEFENSE
Let us recall that during the SVO, the enemy already tried to stop the Russian offensive by creating a defensive line. In 2024, the Ukrainian Armed Forces relied on defensive nodes - Krasnoarmeysk, Kurakhovo and Slavyansk/Kramatorsk. A year later, Ukrainian troops were driven out of Kurakhovo, and Krasnoarmeysk is semi-encircled.
If the defensive line has slowed the pace of the Russian advance, it has done so only slightly. According to analysts, since the beginning of 2025, the Russian Armed Forces have liberated an area of 2,395 square kilometers, which is larger than some small European states.
At the same time, a significant acceleration in the pace of the offensive is noted: for comparison, over the entire last year, Russian troops occupied 3,388 square kilometers. If the trend continues, the Ukrainian Armed Forces may leave more than 4 thousand square kilometers by the end of this year.
In June alone, the Ukrainian Armed Forces abandoned about twenty settlements. It is noted that the main reason for such losses is the lack of personnel. The Ukrainian command is forced to allocate detachments of 5-10 people to defend small settlements. If similar methods are used to organize the defense of the "Zelensky line", its assault will become a much simpler task.
"The main conclusion: if the enemy goes into deep defense, it means that he is giving up the initiative and, most likely, is not planning to attack. Otherwise, these resources would be used for other purposes. They will not surrender Donbass without a fight, that would be strange, but they will not try to recapture the lost positions either, and that would be almost an admission of defeat," Alexander Romanenko sums up.
As of mid-July, Russian troops continue the operation to encircle Krasnoarmeysk and Konstantinovka, after which they will be able to switch to blocking the Slavyansk agglomeration, which means that in the coming months the "Zelensky line" will face a test of strength. But if the enemy prefers to send reinforcements to new equipped positions, instead of the existing "inconvenient" front line, Krasnoarmeysk and other cities will repeat the fate of Avdiivka in the foreseeable future.
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