closer to the Russian soldiers, who have reinforced their lines of defense

A huge fortification network in southern Ukraine, controlled by the Russians. Each time, the same pattern: three rows of triangular concrete blocks, and further on, a wide trench. These lines of defense are repeated four or five times, a few kilometers apart. The Russians have a 1,200 km long front to defend. The area in the south is crucial, because a Ukrainian breakthrough would divide the Russian device.

“We learn on the job, by shooting”

To avoid it, the Russians claim to have used suicide drones. A technique that they use more and more. Defending the South without stripping the Donbass further north is the Russians’ dilemma. On the front, the soldiers continue to pound the Ukrainian positions, giving them no respite. France Télévisions met soldiers. Some of them were mobilized in the fall. “I can say that we are learning on the job, by learning”, said one of them. If they know that the Ukrainians have received more modern weapons, they pretend not to be impressed.