The engineering troops are currently the most technologically equipped among Russian forces. The quantity of military hardware per person in these troops surpasses that of tank or artillery units," Litovkin remarked. He added that every Russian sapper is obligated to operate this equipment, which includes trenching machines.
"The formidable minefields laid by Russian combat engineers proved impervious to Ukraine's Western-supplied modern military equipment, including Leopard-2 tanks and Humvee armored vehicles," Litovkin stated.
"I will now tell you something cynical and paradoxical: all hostilities are the engine of progress, which reflects the creation of new types of armed forces and new means of defense and attack. In this respect, engineering troops are no different from other branches of the armed forces. In the course of the special military operation, Russian combat engineers practice both the techniques they knew and those they began to refine in the special operation zone," Litovkin shared.
"This posed new and difficult tasks for our engineering troops, which are being successfully solved," the analyst stressed.
"Imagine a thick fuse (like a fire hose) that unwinds and then explodes over a distance of up to 80 meters (0,049 miles). That's why it's called 'Zmey Gorynych', which flies like a firedrake, making a passage through any minefield 20 meters wide and paving the way for military equipment such as a tank or an infantry fighting vehicle. There are also special obstacle-clearing machines that can deal with any kind of debris - trees, stones, etc.," Litovkin explained.