MOSCOW, April 18. /TASS/. Ukrainian forces risk major calamity if they try to break through the layered defense system in the Kherson Region, the region’s acting governor, Vladimir Saldo, said on Tuesday.

"The fortifications are very solid, several layers deep, so, even if anyone attempts to get through, it would be a disaster and more Ukrainian soldiers will die. They will simply be thrown to the slaughter," he said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 television channel.

He said earlier that Ukrainian troops would not be able to reach Crimea in the event of a counteroffensive because of strong fortification structures.

Crimea’s head, Sergey Aksyonov, said earlier that the peninsula had defense in depth.