The Reason Russia's Anti-Tank "Dragon's Teeth" Are Often Not A Major Obstacle

Ukrainian forces are finding that pyramidal concrete dragon's teeth, ostensibly designed to stop tanks, are more easily breached than expected because they are often not properly anchored in the ground and so easily pushed aside by heavy armored vehicles. 

As has often been the case with Russian logistics, there are suspicions that the decision to employ dragon's teeth was the result of a well-connected defense contractor seeing an opportunity to grab a share of the Russian military's budget. JL 

Tom Porter reports in Business Insider:

Russia's "dragon's teeth" were mocked by a former Ukrainian commander, who said they were easily breached by Ukraine's tanks. The concrete pyramids, which stand 4 feet tall, are meant to block Ukrainian armored vehicles. "Why these pyramids were built is a mystery. The only rational explanation is that someone gobbled up the budget." The "dragon's teeth" defenses had so far been easy to overcome. "We have now reached the second line." The Russians' third line is designed mainly for resupplying the first two lines. "They won't be able to hold it,"

Russia's infamous "dragon's teeth" defenses were mocked by a Ukrainian former commander, who said they were easily breached by Ukraine's tanks.

The concrete pyramids, which stand about 4 feet tall, are meant to block and damage Ukrainian tanks and other armored vehicles.

Yevhen Dykyi, a former company commander of the Aidar Battalion, told Voice of Ukraine how Ukrainian forces had managed to breach Russia's first line of defense as part of a recent advance near Tomak, in the Zaporizhzhya oblast in southern Ukraine.

He added that the "dragon's teeth" defenses had so far been easy to overcome. "We have now reached the second line. And it includes the following," he said, according to a translation by Voice of Ukraine.

 

"To begin with the amusing, it includes the so-called dragon's teeth. I think everyone has already seen photos or videos [of those]. These are white concrete pyramids that, in the Russian imagination, were supposed to stop our tanks, somehow."

Ukraine's Security Service shared photos of the Russian fortifications exclusively with CNN this month, offering an insight into the network of defenses that had curtailed Ukraine's ambitions.

"Why these pyramids were built, to be honest, is a mystery to me," Dykyi said. "The only rational explanation is that someone simply gobbled up the budget. Because there is absolutely no use from them as they don't stop tanks.

"If you remember, maybe several years ago it was fashionable to put so-called energy pyramids on the tables, which were supposed to protect against negative energies. The use of these concrete pyramids is exactly the same."

 In the interview, Dykyi also described the challenge faced by Ukrainian forces in breaking through Russia's three defensive lines.

"It was very powerful," he said of Russia's first line of defense. "First of all, it included the largest minefield in general, perhaps in European history," he continued, describing the densely packed minefields in front of Russia's defensive lines.

He described how Ukrainian forces then found "a dotted line of so-called strongholds was further behind this minefield."

He said Russia's second defensive lines of trenches and concrete bunkers were protected by "dozens of separate minefields with passages between them" to enable Russian troops to move, which could be exploited by Ukrainian forces.

 

He seemed unimpressed by the third line, however, saying it's designed mainly for resupplying the first two lines. "They won't be able to hold it," he said of the Russians.

This week, Ukrainian forces broke through the first line of Russia's defenses, liberating the village of Robotyne near Zaporizhzhya. They are seeking to break through Russia's second defensive line and retake Tomak as part of their drive toward the occupied city of Melitopol.

Dykyi said Russia had realized that holding Tomak was vital if it's to stop Ukrainian forces from pushing on to the Sea of Azov and isolating the occupied Crimean Peninsula.

"There are some grounds for cautious optimism," he said.