Ukraine Digs in and Hopes For the Best in “Spring Defensive”

A Ukrainian soldier exits a foxhole dug into the side of a trench at the Kherson border region village, outside of Mykolaiv on October 31, 2022. (Photo by BULENT KILIC / AFP) (Photo by BULENT KILIC/AFP via Getty Images)

By Brian Bonner

Brian Bonner joined The Cipher Brief in March 2024. He led the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's English-language newspaper, from 2008-2021. He covered international, national and local news for the St. Paul Pioneer Press in Minnesota from 1983-2007.

SUBSCRIBER+ EXCLUSIVE REPORTING – Ukraine is spending $800 million to build trenches and multilayered fortifications along a 600-mile front line in the eastern part of the country to stop advancing Russian troops. While Russia looks to capitalize on recent battlefield gains, Ukraine isn’t planning for fresh ground offensives of its own; it’s planning what might be called a spring defensive.

What a difference a year makes.

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