Russia's defensive lines are 'much more complex and deadly than anything experienced by any military in nearly 80 years,' retired general says

• A retired Australian general described Russia's intimidating defensive lines to The Economist.
• He called them "much more complex and deadly" than anything any military had seen in about 80 years.

A retired Australian general described the defensive lines that Russia had built in Ukraine as "much more complex and deadly than anything experienced by any military in nearly 80 years."

And the former officer, Mick Ryan, told The Economist that breaking through those defenses would require the best of combined-arms operational skills, something that the military analyst Michael Kofman told the outlet Ukraine had not shown at scale.

Ukraine started its long-awaited counteroffensive in June, aimed at taking back territory in the east and south of the country. But it has made only marginal gains.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said efforts had been hampered by the strong defenses that Russia was able to build as it waited for Ukraine's big attack to begin.

Satellite imagery from when Ukraine was preparing to start its counteroffensive showed Russia strengthening its 600-mile front line with minefields, barricades, "dragon's teeth" obstacles, and anti-tank ditches.

The minefields have, in places, forced Ukrainian soldiers to leave behind some of their advanced Western tanks and progress on foot.

Officials in Ukraine said they wanted their big push to start earlier but had to wait for more Western weapons to arrive, which allowed Russia additional time to prepare.

Ukraine has also explained its progress by saying many of its units have not yet joined the fight, and Zelenskyy said last week that Ukraine's actions were about to gain pace after extensive de-mining efforts.

Others have compared the fighting in Ukraine to wars going back over a hundred years.

The slow, grinding nature of the clashes and trench warfare means that battlefields in Ukraine look like those from World War I, albeit with more-advanced technology in the mix, experts told Insider.

A former Army Ranger who fought in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Ukraine said the fighting in the Eastern European country was much worse than that in those other countries. David Bramlette told The Daily Beast that he had air support, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance when he was in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"The worst day in Afghanistan and Iraq is a great day in Ukraine," he said.