Ukrainian general says troops have breached Russia’s first line of defense on southern front

Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, a Ukrainian general who leads the counteroffensive in southern Ukraine, told The Observer that Ukraine’s Armed Forces (AFU) have broken through the first of Russia’s three defensive lines on the southern front.

“We are now between the first and second defensive lines,” he said about the Robotyne-Verbove district in the Zaporizhzhia region. “In the center of the offensive, we are now completing the destruction of enemy units that provide cover for the retreat of Russian troops behind their second defensive line.”

The general estimates that Russia spent 60% of its time and resources equipping the first line of defenses on the southern front, and only 20% on each of the second and third line of defenses, since it did not expect the AFU to get through the first lines. “The Russians believed the Ukrainians would not get through this line of defense. They had been preparing for over one year. They did everything to make sure that this area was well-prepared,” noted Tarnavskyi.

Ukraine was slow to approach the first line of defense because Russian troops were constantly firing at the vast minefields, making mine clearance operations only possible for the infantry to conduct at night. According to Tarnavskyi, the AFU will advance quicker now that the minefields are not in a single defensive cordon and since the Russian army is quickly running out of reserves.

“The enemy is pulling up reserves, not only from Ukraine but also from Russia. But sooner or later, the Russians will run out of all the best soldiers. This will give us the impetus to attack more and faster. Everything is ahead of us,” said Tarnavskyi.