The most difficult obstacle in the way of the Armed Forces of Ukraine after the start of the Ukrainian offensive was the mines laid by Russian troops, which “disable armored vehicles supplied by NATO countries, cripple soldiers and undermine morale.” This is reported by the British newspaper Financial Times, excerpts are cited by TASS.
The media, citing the commanders of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, notes that the Ukrainian military can attack with ten brigades, “but this will not help, because there are mines everywhere, they are every half a meter.
At the same time, even new deliveries of Western special equipment for combating mines will not completely solve the problem, says Franz-Stefan Gadi, an employee of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, who is quoted by the publication. He is confident that mine-clearing equipment will help, but “even for well-equipped Western armies, including the US, it would be difficult to break through layered defenses.”
Many of Russia’s minefields are specifically designed to minimize the effectiveness of the technology Ukrainian forces use to clear mines, adds Rob Lee of the US Institute for Foreign Policy Studies. He believes that portable demining systems would be most useful for the Armed Forces of Ukraine now, since when attacking through minefields, preference is given to infantry, the path of which is trying to clear the artillery, the newspaper writes.
The publication also notes that the Russian side is able to quickly restore or strengthen minefields. And this is just one of the many layers of Russian defense that is difficult to overcome, emphasizes Michael Kofman, head of the Russian Armed Forces Study Program at the US Center for Naval Analysis. According to him, now the task for the Ukrainian troops is not only to break through the first defensive line, but also to save enough resources, enough fuel to take advantage of the breakthrough and achieve the strategic goals of this offensive.
Recall that the Ukrainian counter-offensive, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin, began on June 4, but since then the Armed Forces of Ukraine have not been able to break through the Russian front. At the same time, the losses of Ukrainian troops exceed the “classic” figures of “three to one”.
Source: Rosbalt
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