I’ve been following the excellent updates on Ukraine here everyday. For example, here was a map I saw of the Svatove area earlier today:
Although I appreciate the maps, I do find that it can be hard to understand why certain advances are slow or fast. Despite the careful explanations, I do a lot of 3D mapping and thought I would share a bit about one of the current focal points: Svatove in Luhansk Oblast.
There are two interesting features to see.
First, the bluffs to the west of Svatove are going to be hard to defend. I have enhanced the vertical relief by a magnitude to make it obvious, and painted in yellow the guesstimate of Ukraine’s current front lines:
Imagine trying to resupply forces at the top of those hills during a firefight? Further, if and when those positions fall, the UA will be in a dominant position over the battlefield for the next 10 km with very little cover for retreating Russians. There is no way that the town can hold if the bluffs fall, and if the bluffs fall, it is a long retreat under threat of those same heights.
From the West looking East, the UA have lots of draws they can advance up. It is really not terrain in the Russian’s favor.
Unfortunately, it’s just not great tank country, with so many places to be funneled into. Infantry and combined arms will be key in clearing the heights.
The second interesting point is that when you look at a side profile (West-to-East) the terrain is all western slopes to eastern drops. The same monumental forces that pushed up the Alps (the Africa plate colliding with the European plate) has ripples here, though they are (of course) made more confusing due to the Arabian and Anatolian plates, and this land is littered with thrust faults all across the North-East of Ukraine (one reason that it is so rich in minerals).
This pattern is repeated all the way past Starobli’s’k.
Which means there is just not much in the way of favorable terrain for the Russians to set up a defensible position anywhere in the North-East, but the UA will have the benefit of those rises every 10 kms or so.
Are these 3D views of interest and helpful?
ref: www.geoexpro.com/…
ref: en.wikipedia.org/.…
ref: doi.org