The trenches indicate Russian leaders are concerned about a significant Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Russian forces have constructed a sizable defensive trench in Ukraine far behind the frontline, which is a stark indication of their dwindling confidence.
According to the independent Crimean Centre for Investigative Journalism‘s analysis of openly accessible satellite photos, the defensive lines extend constantly across 45 miles of the seized Ukrainian countryside.
It passes through Zaporizhzhia’s southern section, more than 50 miles into Russian-controlled territory and hundreds of kilometers from the most active fighting in the Bakhmut region, in the east.
The western end of the ‘megatrench’ begins near Melitopol, which is the seat of a puppet government used by Putin to rule the occupied half of the region.
Melitopol is also seen as the ‘gateway to Crimea’, the peninsula which was illegally seized by Russia in 2014.
The appearance of the trench hints suggests Russian commanders fears a Ukrainian counteroffensive could recapture most or all of its lost territories in the south.
This would be a major blow to Putin as he would be reduced to fighting for slivers of new eastern land to tack onto parts of the Donetsk and Donbas regions which were already held by pro-Russian separatists before the 2022 invasion.
Digging appears to have begun in September and ramped up massively in the following weeks, with fortifications completed by early April.
This coincides with a period of retreat of Russian forces, who had advanced to Kyiv in the first stages of the war but were later pushed back and forced to abandon positions in central and northern Ukraine.
The images showing the trenches were obtained from the Sentinel-2, one of several satellites from the EU’s Copernicus space programme whose data is available freely online.
Natalya Gumenyuk, spokeswoman for Ukraine’s southern defence forces, said: ‘Well, at least they [the Russians] will win at something.
‘There will be no second victories. Let them be record holders from the trenches.’
Reports suggest the Russian military, which is struggling to recruit reinforcements, was forced to complete the trenches using hired civilian workers from Kyrgyzstan who complain they have been underpaid.
The lines were identified with defences seen in Russian propaganda footage which bizarrely brags about how the men had to dig ‘with sapper shovels like in the Second World War’.
Trench warfare has largely died out due to advances in modern tactics as it is associated with high-casualty offences for little strategic gain.
It has been virtually unheard of in the 21st century outside of eastern Ukraine, which was the site of a ‘frozen conflict’ between Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists for years before Putin’s invasion and is now dominated by bloody stalemates.
Putin poured tens of billions of roubles into proxy forces and mercenary groups fighting to keep the separatists in control of Donetsk and Donbas.