Russian army builds miles of trenches in Crimea according to satellite images

Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, looks more and more like a fortress. Moscow troops expect an offensive from kyiv.

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A Russian soldier in front of the Djankoi station, in Crimea, in October 2022, .  (STRINGER/AFP)

Objective: to defend the peninsula in the event of a Ukrainian attack. According to satellite images provided to the washington post by the American company Maxar, the Russian army is building kilometers of trenches in the Crimean peninsula, annexed in 2014 by Russia.

>> War in Ukraine: the Russians are preparing for an attack in Crimea

It only took a few weeks for Moscow to dig trenches near Vitino, on the shores of the Black Sea. In record time, long gaps appeared on the beaches. The Russians are using a Soviet-era machine capable of digging up to 800 meters per hour. On a satellite image dated March 31, we can see some artillery pieces arranged along the coast.

Trenches and ditches also stretch for several kilometers around Medvedivka, a small town located along one of the main roads that connects Crimea to mainland Ukraine. Trenches that must also be equipped with wood and concrete: online job offers are also recruiting Russian workers for the equivalent of 90 euros a day.

If Russia is building such a defensive line, it is because it fears a land offensive from Ukraine, kyiv having never hidden its desire to reconquer all the annexed territories. The Battle of Crimea has not yet begun, but it is preparing hard.


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