During the attack on Kursk, Russian tanks got stuck in Russia’s own anti-tank barriers

A powerful Russian force, possibly from the 15th Pyatnashka Brigade, attacked the Ukrainian salient in Russia’s Kursk Oblast on or shortly before Sunday.

The attack, which targeted the Ukrainian-held village of Plechovo on the southern edge of the salient, not only failed – it failed in the most ironic way possible. The Russian column became stuck in anti-tank barriers – a ditch and a series of concrete obstacles – that the Russians had erected before the Ukrainian invasion of Kursk in early August.

Outside Plechovo there are two important Russian-built defenses: the anti-tank barriers and a nearby infantry trench complex. The attacking Russians struggled to get through the anti-tank traps as Ukraine’s 129th Territorial Defense Brigade fired a wave of explosive drones.

“Our soldiers taught the Russian occupiers and their equipment a lesson, burned dozens of armored vehicles and liquidated enemy personnel,” wrote Ukrainian war correspondent Yuri Butusov.

The Russian-made defenses that helped repel the recent Russian attack could have presented a serious obstacle to the Ukrainian invasion – but they did not. According to captured Russian intelligence information, the defenses outside Plechovo were manned by several platoons and at least one company, possibly several hundred soldiers in total.

But Russian troops in Kursk were caught off guard by the surprise Ukrainian attack on August 6 – and were unable to bring their considerable firepower, including nearly 200 artillery pieces, to bear before rapidly advancing Ukrainian mechanized troops fell upon them.

So the anti-tank traps and the circular infantry trenches became Ukrainian assets. And unlike the previous Russian occupiers, the new occupiers of the 129th Territorial Defense Brigade fully expected a counterattack – and were ready to take advantage of the well-made defenses.

To the credit of the Russian engineers who constructed the defenses outside Plechovo, these defenses worked as advertised, slowing an enemy attack long enough for the local defenders to use their best firepower. However, the fact that their comrades built effective anti-tank traps is certainly little consolation for the Russian troops who ultimately fell into the trap.