On Saturday, the Kremlin announced that Vladimir Putin had spoken the day before with those responsible for the military intervention in Ukraine. The Russian president notably asked the commanders what their proposals were for the continuation of the operations. In the meantime, regions of Zaporijjia and Kherson south of the Dnieper are barricaded by Russian soldiers.
From our special correspondent,
Never have Russian controls been so tight on the roads in the Zaporijjia and Kherson regions – since the fall of Kherson only RFI has been able to access the latter – and certain axes are forbidden to the passage of civilians. To circulate there, you have to show your white paw. At the very many checkpoints and checkpoints between several cement blocks, often huge triangles: they are called “ dragon’s teeth “. We see them especially in fields that are still green.
On both sides of each axis, these teeth are linked together by steel chains and surrounded by barbed wire. The earth is completely turned over in places by huge diggers: they dig wide trenches which leave space for the passage of two men. Wood is piled up on the low sides to reinforce them and from the road, one can make out solid fortifications.
The works and axes are carefully watched by visibly well-equipped soldiers. As in the Belgorod region along the Ukrainian border, as on the front line in Luhansk, or in the Crimea, the Russian forces on this side of the Dnieper have in a few weeks installed in the plains, then muscled, lines defense. On December 2, the governor of Crimea, Sergueï Axionov, came to visit these defense lines in the Zaporizhia region and published photos of them on his Telegram channel. Visible from the sky, these fortifications send this message: no question of letting Ukrainian tanks pass at full speed when the ground hardens under the cold.