Ukraine is expected to launch a counteroffensive soon with several new brigades. But Russian soldiers have dug tens of miles of new defensive lines.
"Breaking through the Russian defensive positions will be a very tough task for the Ukrainians," says Jörgen Elfving, a former lieutenant colonel and expert on the Russian military. Russian engineer troops are considered to be of high quality and many of the defensive positions are solid, judging by pictures on social media. The lines are protected by barbed wire trenches, minefields, tank barriers and graves.