Inside Ukraine’s Effort to Fortify Hundreds of Miles of Defensive Lines

The Wall Street Journal ^ | July 30, 2025 | Matthew Luxmoore

[MinorityRepublican]

A line of antitank ditches and barbed wire cuts through the sunflower fields all the way to the horizon here in Ukraine’s battle-scarred east, fortifications the country bets it can lay fast and far enough to halt Russia’s summer offensive. But the defensive gamble is facing increasingly long odds.

Kyiv is in the midst of its most ambitious defensive construction effort to date, erecting obstacles and carving up the earth to thwart manned and unmanned assaults. While riflemen scan the sky for enemy robots, Ukraine’s own drone operators sit below them in an extensive network of subterranean dugouts.

“The army that digs deeper is the army that survives,” said Col. Oleh Rezunenko, a military engineer overseeing a nearly 200-mile section of the mammoth project.

Well into its second year, the wider front-line program has been beset by delays, attacks and arrests for alleged corruption. It now faces being overrun by the enemy it is trying to repel.

Rezunenko’s entrenchments, including miles of waist-high concrete pyramids, start from the Kharkiv region in the north and reach as far south as Zaporizhzhia. “Our main task is to dig as quickly and as deeply as we can.”

The challenge is to hold back a Russian army bolstered by thousands of fresh recruits whom Moscow is throwing into battle for only small or symbolic gains. Ukraine’s understaffed units are struggling to defend against the onslaught as Russia shifts tactics daily and slowly chews through territory.

[linMcHlp]

Ukraine army has a significant exhaustion problem.

A controlled collapse, would be better vs. a catastrophic collapse.

Zelensky et al, would do better to focus more . . . on not losing more.

IMHO.

[MinorityRepublican]

Ukraine army has a significant exhaustion problem.

That may be the case but they are using drones as a force multiplier.

[BenLurkin]

They did a good job hardening their defenses outside of Donetsk. Dug in deep and in range to periodically shell the city. It took two years for the Russians to drive the Ukrainians back and out of Russia’s new province.

[adorno]

A controlled collapse, would be better vs. a catastrophic collapse.

If figures the enemy, or the supporters of the enemy would be the first to speak.

[Magnum44]

“The army that digs deeper is the army that survives”

[adorno]

It took two years for the Russians to drive the Ukrainians back and out of Russia’s new province.

At the rate Russia is taking Ukraine territory, it will take less than 150 years before the whole of Ukraine is Russian territory and a new republic of the Russian Federation.

Putin is hoping that before he dies, Russia will be able to claim at least 100 more yards of Ukraine territory. He'll die happy and having lost some 5 million Russian soldiers in the effort, will have been 'worth it'.

[BenLurkin]

The US needs to just walk away from the entire thing.

Borders in Europe moved back and forth for thousands of years without any help from us. They’ll continue to move long after we’re gone.

[Blood of Tyrants]

He is being pragmatic. You don’t have to be a genius to see that Russia has more of everything than Ukraine does. And many draft age Ukrainians have fled the country.

[freeandfreezing]

You don’t have to be a genius to see that Russia has more of everything than Ukraine does

That may be true in terms of the number of men they want to see die in some Ukrainian field, or the amount of land in their country, but the determination, intelligence, and skill of the Ukrainians is something the Russians lack. That is one reason they have always sought to capture and exploit Ukraine.

There is a reason much of the Soviet era military technology came from Ukraine. And that same reason is why the Ukrainian military has been able to hold off a much larger force of Russians, North Koreans, African mercenaries working for Russia, and others in the war.

[SaxxonWoods]

I asked CoPilot if Russia would deffeat Ukraine. It laid out the usual things we all know. The last two sentences were the most interesting:

“Ultimately, whether Russia “defeats” Ukraine depends on how one defines victory—territorial gains, regime change, or a negotiated settlement.

The situation is fluid, and the next few weeks could be pivotal.”

[SaxxonWoods]

That’s not the way war works. Things go bad a little at a time, and then suddenly go bad very fast.

CoPilot: “The situation is fluid, and the next few weeks could be pivotal.”

[MinorityRepublican]

That’s not the way war works. Things go bad a little at a time, and then suddenly go bad very fast.

More likely, we'll see Russian conscripts stop fighting for Putin so their army will collapse on the battlefield.

[SaxxonWoods]

Two ex-military men discuss the situation; General John Mearsheimer and Daniel Davis:

Danny, let me just say that it’s very interesting, but I think it’s true for both of us. Uh we’re both Americans, both served in the American military, you of course much longer than me. Uh and uh we’re in a situation where we listen to the Russians who the United States is basically fighting a war against and we think almost everything the Russians say makes sense and they’re the truth tellers here. The American government is not telling the truth much of the time and is making arguments that a rational person can’t agree with. It’s a really very uncomfortable situation to
be in if you think about it.

100% agree. It is as bizarre. I grew up in the Cold War. I
mean I served on the front lines of the
Cold War patrolling against Soviet forces in in uh right opposite what was Czechoslovakia and the DDR at the time. and and to now see this seeming reversed, it’s hard for me to to get my
hand around.

Yeah. I mean, I I find that I’m at odds with the United States with what the United States is doing and just so many different situations and I find it so easy to be critical of the United States. It’s quite remarkable. Uh and when I listen to Putin talk, I find it hard to disagree with anything he says uh from a Russian point of view. Uh but uh I just wanted to point that out. Uh I think Danny what’s going on here is very simple. We understand now and you can even see it in the newspapers, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the New York Times that people understand the Russians are going to win. Uh, nobody’s sure what that victory is going to look like. Uh it’s going to be an ugly victory, but it’s going to be a Russian victory.

[MinorityRepublican]

Uh, nobody’s sure what that victory is going to look like. Uh it’s going to be an ugly victory, but it’s going to be a Russian victory.

Russo-Japanese War. WWI. Soviet-Afghan War, etc.

[adorno]

That’s not the way war works. Things go bad a little at a time, and then suddenly go bad very fast.

Things go bad and very bad, all at the same time in wars, and very quickly. That's the only way things work in wars.

CoPilot: “The situation is fluid, and the next few weeks could be pivotal.”

AI, no matter by whom, likes to play it safe and give generic and dubious answers. AI answers/responses are always 'factual' when you like the answer given.

[SaxxonWoods]

Check comment #13.

[adorno]

He is being pragmatic.

There is nothing pragmatic about a wrong answer or a wrong opinion. ;)

You don’t have to be a genius to see that Russia has more of everything than Ukraine does.

You also don't have to be a genius to see that, Putin's invasion was uncalled for and idiotic and very costly to Russia and Ukraine. Russia has suffered a lot more losses than Ukraine, in manpower and weaponry and in economic losses. Not much of a genius, that Putin.

And many draft age Ukrainians have fled the country.

Happens in every war. But, far more Russians fled the country, or are hiding, or have feigned illnesses in order to avoid service and death. And Russia has suffered at least twice as many casualties than Ukraine.

And the military prowess of Russia is no more and its economy is in shambles. Yeah, Russia had a lot more than Ukraine before the war, but it has also lost a lot more than Ukraine. Not a genius at all, that Putin. Now, Russia has a lot more than Ukraine in another category: number of widows and number of fatherless children. Even more, Russia has a lot more poverty than Ukraine because of the economy going into recession and people ending up in poverty> Not even close to genius level, that Putin.

So, how practical was going to war by Putin?

[sauropod]

Bkmk

[adorno]

The US needs to just walk away from the entire thing.

Yeah, like neutrality and impartiality is always respected by aggressive countries. We are around the world, and the world has become dependent on the U.S. for a lot of their security. Walking away is not an option anymore. BTW, we are also the target for Russia and China and N.Korea and Iran and many other countries. I suppose if we ignore them, we'll be okay?

Borders in Europe moved back and forth for thousands of years without any help from us.

I don't think the U.S. was there thousands of years ago. And the result of border violations was the world in constant conflicts/wars. I suppose wars is the only way that humans can deal with each other, and change borders by force. Hmmm... never thought of that. You may have something there. ;)

They’ll continue to move long after we’re gone.

So, always being at war with your neighbors is a good thing? See that country over there? Let's go take it. Sounds very humane. Why change?