'About fifteen kilometres from the frontline, huge works are underway'
Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 About 20 kilometers from the front line, huge works are underway.
00:05 We have moved from offensive operations to defensive.
00:08 And when you are defending, you have got to be prepared.
00:11 So we are getting our defenses ready.
00:12 We have got mines, barbed wire, dragon's teeth, concrete capsules and anti-tank ditches being
00:17 dug.
00:18 It's a whole system.
00:21 The Ukrainian government is spending half a billion euros on constructing three lines
00:26 of defense at least along the 2,000-kilometer front line as fast as possible.
00:33 The military are building the first line of defense themselves.
00:36 But further back, as here, countless construction firms are suddenly engaged in a whole new
00:40 kind of work.
00:42 Colonel Voloshin has come to inspect their progress.
00:47 The lines that are a bit further from the front are entrusted to regional governments.
00:51 They do some work themselves and also hire civilian contractors.
00:56 We keep an eye on how they are building this system.
01:00 Today he seems satisfied.
01:02 But questions are being asked as to why all this wasn't already put in place long ago.
01:07 In Kiev, opposition parties are accusing the authorities of a serious failure.
01:12 We urge our government to budget the expenses for fortification.
01:20 But unfortunately they were def for that and they paid more attention to the reconstruction
01:27 of roads, of bridges and buildings.
01:30 Others have dismissed such criticisms as political opportunism, saying that Ukraine was not expecting
01:35 to find itself in this defensive position and anyway the new fortifications will be finished
01:39 on time.
01:40 The test will probably come in the early summer, when the country fears a new Russian push
01:45 to take more of its territory.