Ukrainian Soldiers Must Breach the Most Formidable Military Fortifications Since WWII

DONETSK REGION, UKRAINE—“Advance! Five bogies, take cover! Fire!” These are the commands Kevin Leach and his team of Canadian colleagues are shouting to the assembled recruits of Ukraine’s Fourth Rapid Reaction Brigade. The men latch on to every word, keen to soak up every morsel of information—knowing can be the difference between life and death on Ukraine’s remorseless battlefields. As part of Ukraine’s counteroffensive, these troops must approach and breach some of the most formidable military fortifications seen in Europe since World War II. Ukrainian and American officials admit the counteroffensive has made slower-than-expected progress since it began in June 2023, largely due to the density of these defenses. The summer came and went without a major Ukrainian breakthrough. Built at various degrees of depth over the 600-mile or so frontline, the defenses start with “tank traps” designed to slow down advancing armor, supported by huge minefields, layers of barbed wire, and concrete pillboxes full of Russian soldiers armed with anti-tank weapons. In the meantime, advancing Ukrainians are coming under heavy fire from Russian artillery and air power. The training ground, near the city of Kostyantynivka in eastern Ukraine, is calm. But just over 30 kilometers away, pitched battles were raging in and around the city of Bakhmut, where you could hear the faint whump and thud of artillery in the distance. Despite the urban area of the city eventually falling to the Russians after a ten-month-long slog, Ukraine has since launched a counteroffensive that has reclaimed parts of the region around Bakhmut, threatening to encircle and trap Russian troops inside the city. The Fourth Rapid Reaction Brigade is now crucial to these efforts. [View in Browser]( [Popular Mechanics]( [SHOP]( [EXCLUSIVE]( [SUBSCRIBE]( [Ukrainian Soldiers Must Breach the Most Formidable Military Fortifications Since WWII]( [Ukrainian Soldiers Must Breach the Most Formidable Military Fortifications Since WWII]( [Ukrainian Soldiers Must Breach the Most Formidable Military Fortifications Since WWII]( DONETSK REGION, UKRAINE—“Advance! Five bogies, take cover! Fire!” These are the commands Kevin Leach and his team of Canadian colleagues are shouting to the assembled recruits of Ukraine’s Fourth Rapid Reaction Brigade. The men latch on to every word, keen to soak up every morsel of information—knowing can be the difference between life and death on Ukraine’s remorseless battlefields. As part of Ukraine’s counteroffensive, these troops must approach and breach some of the most formidable military fortifications seen in Europe since World War II. Ukrainian and American officials admit the counteroffensive has made slower-than-expected progress since it began in June 2023, largely due to the density of these defenses. The summer came and went without a major Ukrainian breakthrough. Built at various degrees of depth over the 600-mile or so frontline, the defenses start with “tank traps” designed to slow down advancing armor, supported by huge minefields, layers of barbed wire, and concrete pillboxes full of Russian soldiers armed with anti-tank weapons. In the meantime, advancing Ukrainians are coming under heavy fire from Russian artillery and air power. The training ground, near the city of Kostyantynivka in eastern Ukraine, is calm. But just over 30 kilometers away, pitched battles were raging in and around the city of Bakhmut, where you could hear the faint whump and thud of artillery in the distance. Despite the urban area of the city eventually falling to the Russians after a ten-month-long slog, Ukraine has since launched a counteroffensive that has reclaimed parts of the region around Bakhmut, threatening to encircle and trap Russian troops inside the city. The Fourth Rapid Reaction Brigade is now crucial to these efforts. DONETSK REGION, UKRAINE—“Advance! Five bogies, take cover! Fire!” These are the commands Kevin Leach and his team of Canadian colleagues are shouting to the assembled recruits of Ukraine’s Fourth Rapid Reaction Brigade. The men latch on to every word, keen to soak up every morsel of information—knowing can be the difference between life and death on Ukraine’s remorseless battlefields. As part of Ukraine’s counteroffensive, these troops must approach and breach some of the most formidable military fortifications seen in Europe since World War II. Ukrainian and American officials admit the counteroffensive has made slower-than-expected progress since it began in June 2023, largely due to the density of these defenses. The summer came and went without a major Ukrainian breakthrough. Built at various degrees of depth over the 600-mile or so frontline, the defenses start with “tank traps” designed to slow down advancing armor, supported by huge minefields, layers of barbed wire, and concrete pillboxes full of Russian soldiers armed with anti-tank weapons. In the meantime, advancing Ukrainians are coming under heavy fire from Russian artillery and air power. The training ground, near the city of Kostyantynivka in eastern Ukraine, is calm. But just over 30 kilometers away, pitched battles were raging in and around the city of Bakhmut, where you could hear the faint whump and thud of artillery in the distance. Despite the urban area of the city eventually falling to the Russians after a ten-month-long slog, Ukraine has since launched a counteroffensive that has reclaimed parts of the region around Bakhmut, threatening to encircle and trap Russian troops inside the city. The Fourth Rapid Reaction Brigade is now crucial to these efforts. [Read More]( [Read More]( [Don’t Overlook These Small Items on Your Next DIY Project]( [Don’t Overlook These Small Items on Your Next DIY Project]( The absence of small items from your next DIY project can cost you, big. [Read More]( [Alternate text] [Alternate text] [These Are the Strangest Stars You’d Ever See—A Cosmologist Explains Why]( [These Are the Strangest Stars You’d Ever See—A Cosmologist Explains Why]( First, cram several suns’ worth of mass into a volume no bigger than a typical city, and imagine they are primarily made of free-floating quarks, one of the building blocks of all atoms. 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