Breaching 1st line of Russian defenses opens opportunities for maneuver - spox

That’s according to Oleksandr Shtupun, the spokesman for the Tavria Grouping of Troops, who spoke with Susliplne, Ukrinform reports.

"The enemy distributed resources along the three lines of defense at 60-20-20 percentage-wise. That is, the first line of defense was densely mined, with concrete fortifications, and a large number of anti-tank weapons. The second line also cannot be dismissed and ignored. There are also quite powerful fortifications, quite competently erected, but here we already have the opportunity to maneuver equipment and troops," he said.

However, according to the spokesman, these fortifications are not too strong in terms of engineering.

"There are also minefields, somewhat fewer than there were on the first line of defense, but one should not suggest that it will be easy to get through them," Shtupun said.

The military explained that the Ukrainian soldiers demined the first line of defense by hand "because the enemy targeted any equipment and tried to destroy it. That's why it had to be withdrawn."

According to him, demining of the second line of defense will be done comprehensively.

"We can already cover our infantry. On the first line of defense, we would penetrate through some narrow path, so our heavy equipment and infantry could not maneuver left or right because there were dense minefields. Here we entered the territory on which we can maneuver and the enemy also will have to act somehow different," said the spokesman.

Shtupun noted that the success of Ukraine’s forces in Zaporizhzhia region will allow more troops to be deployed in breach points.

"And I hope that we will advance successfully, but it depends on many circumstances, including the amount of ammunition and how the enemy will act. But I hope we will successfully advance towards the coast of the Sea of Azov," he said.

According to Shtupun, after the Ukrainian troops broke through the first line of defense, the Russians started pulling up reserves and involve airborne assault units in their defense.

"The enemy is responding, the enemy is digging in, the enemy is pulling up reserves. Well, their quality is somewhat worse now. But now the enemy is employing airborne assault units in defense, which in principle is not their traditional use. That’s because the Russians see them as elite forces so if they are throwing their so-called elite in defensive battles, then something is going wrong for them," he said.

According to the spokesman, active hostilities are currently ongoing in the Marinka area: "The day before yesterday, the enemy tried to run an assault operation in Maryinka head-on, but they saw no success. Now the enemy is trying to break through to the north and south. These are Novomykhailivka and Krasnohorivka. Active hostilities are also ongoing in the Robotyne area."

According to Shtupun, Ukrainian troops are getting entrenched in the direction of Verbove, where the defense forces had "certain successes" and are now preparing for further action.

"We will engage in fairly powerful counterbattery combat, that is, we are trying to destroy the enemy's artillery, disrupt their logistics, systematically destroy their field depots and in general ammunition depots of various levels, company-battalion and so on," the spokesman said.

Earlier, Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, Tavria Groping Commander, said the Ukrainian forces penetrated the first line of Russian defenses near Zaporizhzhia after weeks of painstaking demining efforts. Now they expect swifter advanceas Ukrainian forces will be confronted by the weaker second line.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, the offensive actions by Russian invaders in the Lyman, Avdiivka, and Zaporizhzhia directions remained unsuccessful. In total, more than 25 combat clashes took place on the front during the day.