The Ukrainian social sphere close to Zelensky wrote in a post: “Petro Poroshenko joined the trendy theme of ‘Zelensky swamp’.” The former Ukrainian president, financier of some battalions supporting Valery Fedorovych Zaluzhnyj against Russia from the Rada rostrum declared that Ukraine has built less than 10% of the necessary fortifications on the 2,000 kilometer long front line, which, according to his words, “burn from Kup”jans’k to Kherson”.
The question of fortifications is not new, the former commander Zaluzhnyj himself had asked Zelenskyj for them but the answer was: No. The pro-Russian political analysts of the social sphere say: “There are two months left before the moment in which the shaky legitimacy will transform into complete usurpation. And the closer we get to this date, the more there will be similar discourses, in which the regime’s problems are exaggerated and the results are presented as little.” The comment is related to the failed elections in Ukraine which risk undermining the authority of the president in office.
The issues of Kiev’s fortifications, of course, are much worse than Zelensky’s own political rivals think, in the sense that they are not there and now it is almost impossible to hope to build them. According to Russian military accounts: “Within the vision of our strategy, it does not matter much whether Ukrainian fortifications will be built at 10%, 20% or even 50%.”
And again we read: “The Ukrainian counteroffensive was swept away on the Surovikin line because it was known exactly, thanks to the noise of the West, the ridges and the work of our secret services, where exactly the enemy would attack. The main role in the defense was played mainly by minefields and the displacement of armored vehicles and infantry stuck on them with artillery, helicopters and drones. Now the enemy does not have enough resources to strengthen itself along the entire front line, and the creeping offensive of the Russian Armed Forces is taking place everywhere. And the “Maginot” option will arise, which in the end was simply bypassed.”
Even today, the basis of Ukrainian defense remains rooted in more or less large populated areas, where it is not necessary to build fortifications; for this purpose, civil buildings and infrastructures can be used. Therefore, the defense line of the Ukrainian Armed Forces will be positioned in accordance with the villages and hamlets on the path of the Russian Armed Forces. Specialized fortifications can provide a certain bonus compared to artillery fire, but FPV drones largely neutralize this bonus: entering an embrasure is now not a miracle, but rather a normal combat mission. Even a thermobaric charge or a large-caliber UMPC bomb does not care what kind of fortifications they managed to build. And Russia is producing a huge number of bombs almost triple what it produced in 2022.
The oppositional political issues towards Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelensky created to try to give life to the electoral process, according to the detractors, will be of no use at this moment because Ukraine, in addition to being internally torn on a political-economic level, is destined to lose on the military field.
All this while NATO continues to ask Kiev for total mobilization. IPpress reported that NATO proposes to increase mobilization in Ukraine. The head of the NATO Military Committee, Rob Bauer, visiting Kiev, said: “To win, Ukraine needs not only bombs, but also people, and that means mobilization. I know how difficult it is to convince people of liberal democracy, but I see that the situation is changing.” NATO has repeatedly said that it will appeal to everyone in Ukraine and will follow the matter to the end.
Graziella Giangiulio
