(Dan Tri) – Faced with a shortage of ammunition and manpower, Ukraine is urgently training to reinforce its defense lines while waiting for aid and getting ready for a long war.

Ukrainian soldiers practice at a shooting range in Donetsk (Photo: EPA).

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said last week that the country’s military is in a `continuous process` of building about 2,000km of defense lines.

In an article posted on social networks, the British Ministry of Defense said that the works include dragon tooth fences, anti-tank trenches, infantry trenches, minefields, and fortified defensive positions.

`The establishment of key defensive positions is a sign of the attritional nature of the conflict… Any attempt to penetrate enemy lines is likely to be accompanied by heavy losses,` the ministry said.

Both Russia and Ukraine now hope to inflict the heaviest possible damage on the other in the long term.

Russia’s 3-layer defense line built in 2023 on Ukrainian territory has hindered Kiev’s counterattack.

Dr Ivan Klyszcz, a researcher at Estonia’s Center for International Defense and Security, said: `Ukrainian officials have said that time is the main factor preventing them from building something like the Surovikin line

`Ukraine’s defenses are designed to cause maximum damage to Russia. These types of defenses are quite effective in slowing down the enemy’s advance,` Seth Jones, Vice President of the Center for National Defense and Research, said.

According to analysts at the British private intelligence analysis organization IHS Janes, Ukraine has relied on fortifications since spring 2022, but the difference now is that they are not only focused on strengthening the areas

Ukraine’s leaders hope that, as the war drags on and they continue to hold out, Western sanctions will hinder Russia’s ability to sustain the effort.

Meanwhile, Russian military analysts said that this shows that Ukraine has admitted that its counterattack campaign failed.

Russia seems to hope that prolonged fighting will cause Western financial and military aid to Kiev to dry up.

In other words, both sides have the same strategy: consolidating forces for a long war.

The French Institute of International Relations also commented last week that both Russia and Ukraine are `racing to rebuild their combat potential so they can win in 2025 or 2026`.

`The conflict could last another 1-2 years before the two sides are ready to sit at the negotiating table,` CSIS’s Dr. Jones predicted.