Is this the breakthrough? Analysis of Ukraine’s Success Despite Continuous Shelling: Heavy Tanks Crack Russia’s Killing Zone

But now the patience is paying off. The Ukrainians have made a major breakthrough near the village of Werbowe, southeast of Zaporizhia. For the first time, they were able to bring German Marder tanks and American Stryker wheeled infantry fighting vehicles behind the Russian defense line, which was hundreds of kilometers long and up to 20 kilometers deep.

This defense zone, also called the Surovikin Line after the Russian general, extends across the entire front in the south and east of Ukraine. It is not only protected by concrete dragon’s teeth, but also heavily mined and protected from enemy vehicles with trenches. So far, Ukrainians have only been able to enter the zone on foot.

Military analyst George Barros of the Institute for the Study of War writes on

Tanks as taxis

The Ukrainians probably drove along a country road that passed through the trench and tine lines. He sees this as a sign that the Ukrainians have probably defeated the local Russian defenses in this section. The Ukrainians managed to free a part of the defense line about three kilometers long and up to two kilometers deep.

As the Bild newspaper writes, the tanks served the Ukrainians mainly as transport vehicles for soldiers who would be dropped off under heavy Russian fire. The martens provided fire protection and then left the danger zone as quickly as possible to avoid being hit by artillery or drones.

The soldiers would first hide and then conquer the trenches created by Russians. However, this advance required a high death toll; several Ukrainian soldiers died during the advance.

Important step

ETH military expert Mauro Mantovani (60) explains the importance of the advance: “The fact that the Ukrainians are operating with armored vehicles within the Russians’ main defensive position is remarkable. It shows that they have apparently succeeded in eliminating Russian artillery and anti-tank defenses in this area.”

In military terms, this is an extended “combat of combined arms” and an advanced “focus formation” of the Ukrainian army. Mantovani: “It is still a tactical break-in for the time being, but there is a good chance that it will become an operational breakthrough.” How successful the advance will continue essentially depends on the reserves that both sides maintain.

Mantovani makes a comparison with the Second World War: “If this advance is the prelude to the breakthrough of the Ukrainians to the Sea of ​​Azov, ‘Werbowe 2023’ will become a new edition of ‘Verdun 1940’.” At Verdun, the German Wehrmacht managed to break the Maginot Line and then advance to the North Sea, which eventually led to an armistice.