Three kilometers behind the Ukrainian front line, trenches hundreds of meters long have recently appeared in the freshly thawed soil. "This round anti-tank trench was dug by a specialized MDK-3 excavator," said Andrii, a lean, sad-eyed Ukrainian soldier, with pride. This 34-year-old military engineering officer has shouldered the responsibility for building defensive lines to protect the lives of thousands of his comrades, along one of the most intensely embattled sections of the front.

Citing security concerns, the officer insisted that neither his exact rank in the military hierarchy, nor the name of his brigade, nor its area of operations be mentioned. The relentless explosions of shells and rockets in the surrounding area stood as clear proof of the efforts of Russian artillery to, as said in military jargon, "soften up" the Ukrainian defenses.

The officer didn't react to the explosions, but his jitteriness was palpable. At the slightest suspicious noise, he would freeze, focus on his hearing and scan the clear sky. It was the buzzing sound emitted by the FPV kamikaze drones that made him nervous. "Enemy drones fly non-stop in this area," he said. "Their priority targets are armored vehicles and engineering equipment, but they also pounce on groups of soldiers." We were standing in a group of three, wearing helmets and bulletproof vests. "We have to split up immediately if an FPV approaches. He [the Russian pilot] might give up on his attack," Andrii said. Unless the drone's battery was drained, in which case its pilot would send it to any target within range.

Emerging from the trench, the officer ran to another one that had been dug further away, so as not to remain in the open any longer than necessary. "Notice the difference with this ditch, dug by a regular excavator. The edges are vertical and the loose earth sags over time. It's less effective at impeding tanks," he said. At the rear of the MDK-3 excavator, a rotating blade drills into the ground and displaces the dirt, forming an embankment on the right-hand side of the trench. The machine takes six hours to dig a 100-meter-long trench with a 3.5-meter radius.

'Dragon's teeth' and 'Czech hedgehogs'

The Ukrainian stock of military engineering equipment is 10 times smaller than that of the invaders: "They're big, aging Soviet machines that often break down. We don't have any spare parts. We need smaller machines that are less visible and easy to hide under the tree canopy. We need jackhammers, trucks with crane arms, wheeled machines that can move quickly and evade the drones, and robots capable of transporting construction materials to the front line without risking lives," said the officer with resignation.

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