Ukraine plans to break through the defense line and force Russian troops to flee - ft
Success or failure of future control will affect the further ratio of forces, in case of success Kiev will be able to approach negotiations with Moscow from the standpoint of force. About it reports The Financial Times. On the one hand, there will be 35,000 Ukrainian soldiers with Western battle tanks that will resist more than 140,000 enemy troops along the front line, which will stretch about a thousand kilometers. There will be a deadly strip of mines and anti -tank barriers.
The fighting, in view of everything, will be difficult, warned by military and analysts, since operations aimed at breakage of defense lines are extremely complex and require the coordination of all military units - artillery, tanks, intelligence, etc. According to Nick Gannell, a former officer of the British royal engineering troops with experience of participating in such military operations, important coordination of all -military units is important.
Everyone has to contribute because the risk is extremely high. One of the difficulties is the lack of benefits in the air for Ukrainians. The last major battle with the use of Western tanks was the confrontation of a coalition led by the USA Iraqi troops in 2003. Iraqi fought the Soviet T-72 tanks. But at the same time, the NATO forces had significant aviation support, including Apache helicopters.
Challenger, Leopard, BMP Bradley and Archer BMP will strengthen the Archer fire, but without serious support from the air that would stop Russian fighters when trying to break Russian fortifications, Ukrainian equipment can be "crumpled", according to Gannell.
Ben Barry, a former commander of the infantry battalion of the UK army, explained that the classic approach in the event of a ground offensive involves a breakthrough into the rear of the enemy in one or more areas and the task of a concentrated blow to focus on the enemy's positions. "Successful examples without air support are extremely little," he explained, giving an example of the attack of Israel's defense forces on the position of Egypt in 1973 during the war of Judgment Day.
It's no secret that there will be an opponent's counter -offensive. For the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation strategically important is the area of Melitopol, located near the Azov Sea. The successful offensive of Ukraine could share the Russian forces in two: one group would remain in the Crimea and in the south, the other in the east. The Russian command takes into account this development and prepares several lines of defense in the region.
According to the mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov, the Russians build a defense in four lines. Usually the defense of the Russian Federation consists of a minefield, after which there are rows of concrete pyramidal barriers, the so -called. "Dragon Teeth" that slow down the movement of technology. Behind them is another minefield with a line of trenches and armor at 400 m behind and a 500-meter anti-tank moat behind it.
According to Gannell, Ukraine can choose as a place for a counter -offensive area with good logistics, or the most vulnerable place of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation - although they may also be the weakest place of Ukraine. Be that as it may, at the beginning of the counter -offensive there should be explosives for clearing the strip on a minefield about 5 meters wide and 200 meters long to allow tanks and other armored vehicles.
Next, there should be cleaning the territory from the "Dragon Teeth", perhaps with the help of tanks with plows. Then you will need to pass the roof with the help of special bridge equipment, you will need to act at speed. But there is always something wrong, so you have to prepare. For example, if the tank plow fails, it will need to be restored or prepared by the second lane. According to analysts, the most difficult is to achieve the coordinated work of several units.
However, the Armed Forces, although the experience of small maneuvers, is not enough in operations of this scale of experience. Financial Times claims that the Ukrainian forces have lost a large part of their most experienced servicemen and evaluate the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at 120 thousand people. The documents of American intelligence have emerged that there is a likelihood that Kiev will not achieve the goal during a counter -offensive.
At the same time, the Ukrainian army was still underestimated, for example, last year, when the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation was rejected first from Kiev and then from Kharkiv region. Western analysts say that the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation lost almost twice as much after a full -scale invasion. In addition, Ukrainian troops are better equipped and prepared than the enemy.
According to Glen Grant, an ex-officer of the UK army, if the Ukrainian attack is quite rapid and the Armed Forces will be found in the rear of the enemy, the front line will spread, and the Russians will run, as in the fall of 2022 near Kharkov. We will remind that the border guards of the Armed Forces told about the situation under Bakhmut: replaced by "Wagner" came Russian paratroopers.