Satellite imagery shows new 70-kilometer Russian trench in Zaporizhzhia Oblast

Russia has dug a 70 kilometer long unbroken trench as part of their defensive lines in the occupied parts of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, according to satellite imagery obtained by the Ukrainian outlet Center for Journalistic Investigations.

The trench, itself located about 70 kilometers behind the current front line, stretches for approximately third of the breadth of the entire region from east to west.

The images, captured by the Sentinel-2 satellite, show the trench stretching from a point nine kilometers from the occupied city of Melitopol to just outside Marynivka village in Prymorskyi District.

Russia, allegedly using a large labor force of immigrant workers from Central Asia started digging this fortification in September, according to an analysis of various photographic evidence.

Since Russia occupied large areas of Zaporizhzhia Oblast in the first phase of the full-scale war, the front line in this area has been the most static in Ukraine, in great part due to the vast, flat, open fields in the area that make large-scale offensives difficult.

Nonetheless, it is exactly here that many expect Ukraine to launch its much-anticipated counteroffensive in the late spring or early summer months, as a breakthrough in Southern Ukraine would have the greatest strategic significance, potentially cutting off Russia's land connection to Crimea and isolating its presence on the occupied peninsula.

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Kyiv IndependentAlexander Query