Ukraine overhauls its approach to defensive lines under new defense ministry strategy through 2028

The document was developed at the initiative of the Defense Ministry, taking into account combat experience and current trends in warfare, the ministry said.

The main objectives are to protect military personnel and logistics, maintain units' combat readiness, develop fortifications, provide anti-drone protection along supply routes, use modern structures and materials, and introduce digital oversight of construction work.

Defense Minister Yevhenii Khmara said the strategy establishes a unified standard for building defensive lines across the country, sets deadlines and assigns responsibility for the work, and introduces oversight mechanisms. Effective solutions will be implemented on a broader scale.

"We will also take into account new challenges, threats and changes in enemy tactics. Our main goal is to protect our military personnel and civilians," he said.

The first phase will focus on the areas facing the greatest threats, including combat zones, frontline cities, borders with Russia and Belarus, and the development of a deeply layered system of defensive lines.

Digitalization of these processes is a major innovation, the Defense Ministry emphasized. Monitoring capabilities will be expanded to assess the condition of fortifications, engineering structures and anti-drone barriers. This will make it possible to track construction progress and quickly direct resources to where they are needed most.

Funding will come from state and local budgets allocated for the relevant year, as well as other sources permitted by law.

In June 2025, then-Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said Ukraine had changed its approach to building frontline fortifications in response to new tactics employed by Russia.

He also said fortifications were being adapted to priorities in specific sectors. In particular, defensive lines were being reinforced in the most vulnerable areas of the Sumy sector.

In April 2026, Brig. Gen. Vasyl Syrotenko, head of the engineering troops of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' Support Forces Command, said Ukraine was building a continuous defensive line from the city of Sumy to the Kyiv Reservoir to prevent Russian forces from conducting operations or establishing a so-called "buffer zone."

In May, open-source intelligence (OSINT) analysts reported that fortification construction was underway in at least 45 Ukrainian cities in preparation for long-term defense.

According to their analysis, major cities where defenses had been reinforced included Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Sumy and Chernihiv.