VLADIMIR Putin is having a 45-mile-long trench dug across Ukraine’s invaded Zaporizhzhia region.
The Russian tyrant’s move is in preparation for a counter-offensive from Kyiv’s forces.
The deep scar across the countryside can be seen from space and was captured in images taken by the Sentinel-2 satellite.
Putin appears worried about holding the region — despite illegally annexing it into the Russian Federation.
The World War One-style “mega-trench” has been highlighted by the Ukrainian Centre for Journalistic Investigations.
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It is nearly 50 miles behind the current front line, indicating Putin’s fear as to how far back his forces could be pushed.
Digging began from two directions last September — using hired labourers from Kyrgyzstan, reports say.
Some complained they had not been properly paid.
The construction — including anti-tank emplacements — stretches from near the village of Semenivka in the west to Marynivka in Primorskyi District in the east.
Parts of it have been covered by Russian propaganda TV, which urged central Asian hired labourers to “dig with sapper shovels like in the Second World War”.
The giant gash has been ridiculed by Ukraine.
The spokeswoman for its southern defence forces, Natalya Gumenyukne, said: “Well, at least they (the Russians) will win at something.
“There will be no second victories. Let them be record holders from the trenches.”
The trench mirrors defensive lines being constructed in annexed Crimea — where some are on the holiday playground’s beaches.
Putin sent his troops into Ukraine in February 2022 expecting them to swiftly take the capital Kyiv.
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They were thwarted by ferocious Ukrainian fighters.
Now he clearly fears losing what land he has taken.
