Defensive debacle: Ukrainian Forces breeze through Russia’s costly Kursk fortifications
Russians are still reeling from the Ukrainian Armed Forces' (AFU) bold offensive into the Kursk region. The breach provided a real-world test for Russia's defensive lines adorned with concrete pyramids, nicknamed "dragon's teeth," into which the Russian authorities poured billions of rubles. According to The Wall Street Journal, Ukrainian troops needed only three shots from a tank to create a gap in these anti-tank lines, allowing their armored vehicles to advance. The standalone concrete 'teeth,' costing up to 16,000 rubles each ($198), were proven ineffective, reports Agenstvo.Novosti.
This was the most formidable obstacle encountered by the Ukrainian platoon during its daring 3 AM incursion into the Kursk region last week. Behind the defensive structures, they were met mostly by conscripts, many of whom fled or surrendered. "In two and a half years, Russia hasn't built a single proper line of defense here," said "Yanuk" (not his real name), the platoon commander, to journalists.
It was back in 2022 when authorities in Kursk and neighboring regions began installing rows of these concrete pyramids. Then-governor of Kursk, Roman Starovoit (now Minister of Transport), posed in front of these fortifications in December that year, declaring, “We continue to strengthen Kursk’s borders, ” Starovoit wrote on Telegram. Belgorod region governor Gladkov posted similar pictures two months earlier. Each pyramid's delivery spiked the cost by another 5,000 rubles ($55), eventually running into billions of rubles.
Earlier reports by the Agentstvo.Novosti pointed out that Kursk had two fortified lines costing 15 billion rubles, yet AFU breached them in just the first few days of the operation.
An in-depth report in The New York Times painted a grim picture of the Russian border checkpoint “Sudzha,” taken within the incursion's first hours and now far from the main combat zone. While journalists were on-site, Ukrainian armored vehicles roamed freely, and AFU soldiers packed the bodies of Russian troops into bags. Signs of the initial ambush were evident everywhere.
Previously, a soldier from the 82nd Air Assault Brigade of the AFU told the Financial Times that his unit encountered no resistance upon entering the Kursk region. Once they crossed the border, the Ukrainian troops found themselves at a Russian camp where soldiers were "sitting in the woods, drinking coffee at a table."
On Thursday, the close-to-Defense Ministry Telegram channel "Rybar" reported that military command had ignored local intelligence on the impending Ukrainian strike. Similarly, the channel "VChK-OGPU" disclosed that just before Ukraine's advance, Russia's General Staff had redeployed part of the forces from the Kursk region elsewhere.