The Ukrainian counteroffensive is moving slowly, as the areas in front of the Russian defensive fortifications are heavily mined. On the eve of the counteroffensive, Ukraine received less than 15% of all sapper and engineering equipment that it requested from Western partners.
Source: The Washington Post
Literally: “According to the soldiers, the lengthy preparation for the counteroffensive, which began about a month ago in many parts of the battlefield in eastern and southern Ukraine, gave the Russians time to prepare. Territories from 3 to 10 miles deep (about 5-16 km – ed.) before The Russians’ main strongholds were heavily mined with anti-tank and anti-personnel mines and tripwires, which they said were successfully holding back the Ukrainian offensive.
As a result, according to Ukrainian servicemen, Ukrainian forces changed their strategy. Instead of trying to break through with the infantry fighting vehicles and battle tanks that the Western allies have provided to Ukraine for a counteroffensive, the units are advancing slowly, on foot.”
Details: According to WP, Ukraine’s struggle in the minefields exposed the vulnerability of armored personnel carriers and tanks – especially the newly arrived American Bradley fighting vehicles and German Leopard tanks, which officials considered key for Ukraine to retake Russian-occupied territory.
“These vehicles received positive feedback from the soldiers – even after being blown up by mines, most of the people who were in them survive with only minor injuries – but they were not able to break through the Russian defenses on their own,” the newspaper writes.
According to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny, Ukraine needs special remote equipment for demining. In an interview with WP, he said that Ukraine uses US-provided M58 Mine Clearing Line Charge (MICLIC) systems, but “they are also being destroyed,” and therefore “a lot of them are needed.”
A senior Ukrainian official, who spoke to WP on condition of anonymity, said that Kyiv received less than 15% of the amount of sapper and engineering equipment, including MICLIC, that it requested from Western partners on the eve of the counteroffensive. Some of that equipment only arrived last week, the official said.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov and Zaluzhny told WP that they have informed their Western counterparts that they urgently need more demining systems, such as Bangalore torpedo explosive charges.
“Minefields is one of the problems that certainly affects the pace of the offensive. This is a problem that we see. Could it have been solved faster? It could have been. How could it be solved? General Milli (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff USA Mark Milli – ed.) knows. Another question is, can he help with this? I don’t know, “said Zaluzhny.
American officials told WP that they provided Ukraine with nearly every type of equipment it asked for on the eve of the counteroffensive. Officials noted that it is not always possible to provide the amount Ukraine is asking for, but said that, in particular on MICLIC systems, Washington is working to soon provide more not only of the system itself, but also of the charges it uses to undermine long rows min.
Officials also told the newspaper that the US decision to provide Ukraine with the controversial cluster munitions would give Kyiv a firepower advantage, allowing the Ukrainian military enough time and space to use its engineering equipment.
Ukrainian soldiers participating in the counter-offensive told WP that, since there are very few demining systems, they have become easy targets for Russian troops, who prioritize strikes against them.
As the newspaper notes, the depth and density of minefields is a significant problem along the southern front line in the Zaporozhye region, where the Russians expected the Ukrainians to attack and try to cut the land corridor through the occupied region that connects the Russian border with Crimea.
“The terrain in this area is predominantly sprawling open fields, where the Ukrainians had no place to camouflage their large equipment and vehicles. According to the soldiers, the Russians chose hills for their positions,” writes WP.
The sapper unit commander of the 47th Mechanized Brigade, call sign Oskar, told WP that his group had received a German Wisent mine-clearing tank, which it used before launching a counter-offensive in the Zaporozhye region. This tank and similar Soviet models successfully cleared some paths for the brigade’s first offensive.
“But now their use is no longer effective, because the enemy expects the appearance of such equipment, which is massive, noisy, easy to notice and, accordingly, strike,” Oscar said.
Another officer of the 47th Brigade told WP that on the first day of the counter-offensive, some units of the brigade in Bradley combat vehicles and Leopard tanks mistakenly took the wrong route, hitting a minefield instead of the one prepared in advance by sappers.
In front of the convoy, the newspaper says, there were mine-clearing vehicles, but the group was forced to stop when the vehicles driving behind, unexpectedly ran into mines and became trapped. Chaos created a cluster of machines in one place. Then the Russians began to attack the Ukrainians from helicopters and anti-tank missiles, seriously damaging and destroying several armored personnel carriers and tanks. According to the Ukrainian officer, some units that left their equipment still managed to capture Russian trench positions.
“When the enemy sees even a Leopard tank and special engineering equipment in front of him, he will first of all destroy the special equipment. Because without it, all the rest will not pass. In just a few days of the offensive, several such vehicles were destroyed along with the crews,” the officer said. .
As the Russians use drones to seek out mine-clearing systems to hit them with artillery and rockets, the Ukrainians are trying to manually carry out mine-clearing work.
“Sapper units – sometimes a group of only four people – often wait until dusk to clear paths, as they are too visible during the day, and in the dark they can be seen with night vision devices,” the newspaper says.
The sappers told WP that walking with a metal detector is unrealistic because they are too visible, and therefore they crawl, looking for mines.
“This slows us down a lot, because the work of a sapper requires time and calmness. It is impossible to do our work in such conditions,” said Lieutenant Colonel Nikolai Moroz, commander of the engineer battalion of the 128th mountain assault brigade.
In addition, the newspaper writes, the Russians are dropping mines from drones on the areas that the Ukrainian sappers have cleared, and the positions that the Ukrainians reach may already be mined.
Because Ukrainian soldiers move on foot rather than on new Western vehicles, resupplying ammunition and evacuating the wounded has become more difficult, WP adds.
“We were preparing, but the Russians were also preparing. They understand that engineering technology is now solving a key problem and changing the rules of the game, so they want to destroy it first. I sent another letter to all our partners so that they can now focus on this,” summed up Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov.
2023-07-15 23:15:13
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