https://sputnikglobe.com/20231123/bone-chilling-cold-vermin-and-drones-ukrainian-troops-detail-21st-century-trench-warfare-1115161263.html
Bone-Chilling Cold, Vermin, and Drones: Ukrainian Troops Detail 21st Century Trench Warfare
Bone-Chilling Cold, Vermin, and Drones: Ukrainian Troops Detail 21st Century Trench Warfare
Sputnik International
The collapse of Ukraine’s NATO-trained and armed military’s much-vaunted summer counteroffensive has caused morale to plummet among the troops, with Ukraine’s top commander recently outlining his fears about the conflict with Russia degenerating into WWI-style trench warfare.
2023-11-23T11:59+0000
2023-11-23T11:59+0000
2023-11-23T13:31+0000
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volodymyr zelensky
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Prolonged, attritional trench warfare dragging on for years threatens to wear down the Ukrainian state.That was the conclusion of Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny in his bombshell interview with British business media earlier this month.From where he sits, Zaluzhny believes that the conflict could still be resolved in Ukraine’s favor, if only the West were to fork over even more high-tech weapons, such as robotic plasma boring machines and rocket-powered mine-clearing devices, to punch through the Russian network of fortifications along a thousand kilometer frontline stretching through Zaporozhye, the Donbass and Kherson.But on the ground, things seem more grim, with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal revealing in a telling interview with British business media Thursday that at the moment, “basically our girls and boys are crawling on their stomachs to try to demine by hand these expansive minefields.”“I didn’t see any mice last winter, but this autumn and early winter there have been loads,” Dmytro, a 36-year-old artilleryman living in a makeshift underground bunker outside Artemovsk (Bakhmut) in Donetsk, confided to a European news agency this week.The troops have installed glue traps to try to get a handle of the vermin situation, but haven’t been able to stop the onslaught, with mice chewing through everything from clothing to wires.“My wife only bought me this sweater last month and a mouse has already started eating it,” Dmytro said.Another constant concern for the troopers is cold weather, with Dmytro recalling how he froze his “*ss off” last winter, having to wear “three pairs of trousers, loads of jackets” all at once just to stay warm. “We were firing constantly, all day. It was very cold,” he said.In another area of the front nearby, a doctor going by the call sign Osmak detailed some of the desperate measures taken by soldiers in the wintertime.Osmak said staff prepared appropriately for the winter this year, insulating doors and windows and installing a wood-burning stove and car heaters in some rooms. Last winter, he said, “it was a lot harder to work because we didn’t have the time to get properly equipped. We were working in the cold.”Along with mice and cold weather, the winter brings with it changes in local foliage, with leaves falling from trees and Ukrainian positions deprived of much-needed cover, making them more vulnerable to Russian drones overhead, at the same time that fall mud and winter ice make moving around riskier and more difficult. “Now there is mud. Later there will be snow,” Volodymyr said.The troopers’ stories complement those made by their fellow fighting-age countrymen elsewhere, painting a bleak picture of troops sent to fight a superior-armed and equipped adversary for reasons which have not been fully revealed to them.Commander-in-chief Zaluzhny, who got in trouble with his boss, President Volodymyr Zelensky, over his “stalemate” remarks earlier this month, briefed Ukraine’s Western “partners” on the situation on the front in a meeting of the Ramstein Format contact group on Wednesday, characterizing the situation on the front “difficult, but under control,” and expressing “gratitude” to NATO powers for their continued support.Behind the scenes, Kiev’s “partners” have run into problems raising additional cash for Kiev, with the Biden administration wrangling with House Republicans over the White House’s efforts to ram another $61.4 billion through Congress for Ukraine, and Washington’s allies across the Atlantic complaining about being tapped out as far as additional money and weapons are concerned.Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated this week that “Russia has never refused to negotiate peace with Ukraine,” telling his fellow leaders at a virtual G20 summit Wednesday that it was “not Russia, but Ukraine that has publicly announced that it is withdrawing from the negotiation process" and banned peace negotiations with Russia.
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Bone-Chilling Cold, Vermin, and Drones: Ukrainian Troops Detail 21st Century Trench Warfare
11:59 GMT 23.11.2023 (Updated: 13:31 GMT 23.11.2023) The collapse of Ukraine’s NATO-trained and armed military’s much-vaunted summer counteroffensive has caused morale to plummet among the troops, with Ukraine’s top commander recently outlining his fears about the conflict with Russia degenerating into WWI-style trench warfare.
Prolonged, attritional trench warfare dragging on for years threatens to wear down the Ukrainian state.
That was the
conclusion of Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny in his bombshell interview with British business media earlier this month.
“Just like in the First World War we have reached the level of technology that puts us into a stalemate…There will most likely be no deep and beautiful breakthrough,” the commander lamented.
From where he sits, Zaluzhny believes that the conflict could still be resolved in Ukraine’s favor,
if only the West were to fork over even more high-tech weapons, such as robotic plasma boring machines and rocket-powered mine-clearing devices, to punch through the Russian network of fortifications along a thousand kilometer frontline stretching through Zaporozhye, the Donbass and Kherson.
But on the ground, things seem more grim, with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal
revealing in a telling interview with British business media Thursday that at the moment, “basically our girls and boys are crawling on their stomachs to try to demine by hand these expansive minefields.”
12 November 2023, 09:22 GMT
At the front, Ukrainian troops are describing conditions like something out of a novel by Erich Remarque, complaining about mice, mud, and blistering cold.
“I didn’t see any mice last winter, but this autumn and early winter there have been loads,” Dmytro, a 36-year-old artilleryman living in a makeshift underground bunker outside Artemovsk (Bakhmut) in Donetsk,
confided to a European news agency this week.
The troops have installed glue traps to try to get a handle of the vermin situation, but haven’t been able to stop the onslaught, with mice chewing through everything from clothing to wires.
“My wife only bought me this sweater last month and a mouse has already started eating it,” Dmytro said.
“The problem is, they gnaw at the cables,” Volodymyr, the artillery unit’s 45-year-old commander, complained.
Another constant concern for the troopers is cold weather, with Dmytro recalling how he froze his “*ss off” last winter, having to wear “three pairs of trousers, loads of jackets” all at once just to stay warm. “We were firing constantly, all day. It was very cold,” he said.
In another area of the front nearby, a doctor going by the call sign Osmak detailed some of the desperate measures taken by soldiers in the wintertime.
“When the wounded come in, even at such a time, you often see they have chemical handwarmers on their bodies, under their jackets and in their gloves,” he said, referring to the temporary disposable iron, activated carbon, cellulose and salt-based solutions, which typically offer 5-6 hours of warming relief. “Last winter you saw that a lot less. Guys didn’t use them as often. Now they are taking care of themselves,” the doctor said.
Osmak said staff prepared appropriately for the winter this year, insulating doors and windows and installing a wood-burning stove and car heaters in some rooms. Last winter, he said, “it was a lot harder to work because we didn’t have the time to get properly equipped. We were working in the cold.”
Along with mice and cold weather, the winter brings with it changes in local foliage, with leaves falling from trees and Ukrainian positions deprived of much-needed cover, making them more vulnerable to Russian drones overhead, at the same time that fall mud and winter ice make moving around riskier and more difficult. “Now there is mud. Later there will be snow,” Volodymyr said.
The troopers’ stories complement those made by their fellow fighting-age countrymen elsewhere, painting a
bleak picture of troops sent to fight a superior-armed and equipped adversary for reasons which have not been fully revealed to them.
20 November 2023, 08:09 GMT
Commander-in-chief Zaluzhny, who got in trouble with his boss, President Volodymyr Zelensky, over his “stalemate” remarks earlier this month,
briefed Ukraine’s Western “partners” on the situation on the front in a meeting of the Ramstein Format contact group on Wednesday, characterizing the situation on the front “difficult, but under control,” and expressing “gratitude” to NATO powers for their continued support.
Behind the scenes, Kiev’s “partners” have run into problems raising additional cash for Kiev, with the Biden administration wrangling with House Republicans over the White House’s efforts to ram another $61.4 billion through Congress for Ukraine, and Washington’s allies across the Atlantic complaining about being tapped out as far as additional money and weapons are concerned.
Russian President Vladimir Putin
reiterated this week that “Russia has never refused to negotiate peace with Ukraine,” telling his fellow leaders at a virtual G20 summit Wednesday that it was “not Russia, but Ukraine that has publicly announced that it is withdrawing from the negotiation process" and banned peace negotiations with Russia.
