British Defense Ministry: Russia has constructed one of the world’s ‘most extensive systems of military defensive works’

The British Ministry of Defense reported in its latest intelligence update that Russia has constructed one of the world’s “most extensive systems of military defensive works.” The ministry says that Russia has constructed a multi-layered defensive zone on the northern border of annexed Crimea and dug hundreds of kilometers of trenches in Russia’s Belgorod and Kursk regions bordering Ukraine.

According to the update, this may indicate that the Russian authorities fear Ukraine’s armed forces could achieve a major breakthrough. The defense lines can also be used “to promote the official narrative that Russia is ‘threatened’ by Ukraine and NATO.”