Russia is building anti-tank defences, called dragon’s teeth, around the city of Mariupol as Vladimir Putin’s forces prepare for a Ukraine counter attack, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.
The port city in southern Ukraine was a major strategic target for Russia early in the war as they sought to link their invasion forces with troops and supplies from the annexed Crimea peninsiula.
The city, and especially the Azovstal plant, put up fierce resistence but were eventually overwhelmed.
Now Russian forces are preparing for a counter-offensive by a resurgent Ukraine, the MoD said on Tuesday in their daily update on the war.
“Russia has started constructing defensive structures around the occupied southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol. Two plants are producing concrete pyramidal anti-tank structures, known as dragon’s teeth, for this purpose.
“Dragon’s teeth have likely been installed between Mariupol and Nikolske village; and from northern Mariupol to Staryi Krym village. Mariupol forms part of Russia’s ‘land bridge’ from Russia to Crimea, a key logistics line of communication,” the MoD said.
They added: “This activity suggests Russia is making a significant effort to prepare defences in depth behind their current front line, likely to forestall any rapid Ukrainian advances in the event of breakthroughs.”
A BBC Panorama investigation alleges 1,500 new graves have been dug at a mass burial site near Mariupol.
Witnesses have told the BBC they have seen the Russian authorities removing bodies from the rubble of destroyed buildings in the city over recent months and taking them away for burial.
Satellite images from Maxar show that three mass burial sites near Mariupol located at Staryi Krym, Manhush and Vynohradne, have been steadily growing since the Spring, the BBC reports.
It comes as Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner mercenary group who has the nickname ‘Putin’s chef’, admitted interfering in US elections - just a day before the midterms.
“Gentlemen, we interfered, we are interfering and we will interfere,” Prigozhin, who has previously been accused of influencing the outcome of elections across continents, said in a statement posted by his catering company, Concord.
“Carefully, precisely, surgically and the way we do it, the way we can,” the 61-year-old added.
Prigozhin was responding to a request to comment on a recent Bloomberg report saying Russia was interfering in Tuesday’s midterm elections.
Biden’s spokesperson, Karine Jean-Pierre, said the White House was not surprised by Prigozhin’s remarks.
“It’s well known and well documented in the public domain that entities associated with Yevgeny Prigozhin have sought to influence elections around the world including the United States,” she said.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan last night confirmed that diplomatic channels remain open between Washington and Moscow but added officials were “clear-eyed about who we are dealing with”.
