/ world today news/ The weather in the war zone in Ukraine worsened sharply, a real winter set in, and storms covered the Black Sea. Climate is believed to have a major impact on the course of military campaigns, and history has repeatedly proven this. How exactly does the time of Russian troops in the special operation zone affect?
The recent strong storm in the Black Sea affected all neighboring areas, including almost the entire SVO area, except for the extreme northern section (Kupyansk – Svatovo). A sharp drop in temperatures followed, which marked the beginning of meteorological winter in the Northern Black Sea. The nature of current warfare has not yet changed significantly as a result, but historically weather and climate have often and severely altered the battlefield situation.
Many such events are heavily mythologized. For example, the story of the “divine wind”, a kamikaze that scattered the Mongol fleet twice in a row and saved Japan from a full-scale invasion. Yes, Mongolians have been surprised by a typhoon twice in a row within a few years, but in these places, typhoons are an annual reality that mainland Mongolians simply did not know.
A storm in the Black Sea, which occurred 170 years ago during the Crimean War, is again considered a Christian example of the influence of time on the course of military operations. On November 14, 1854, an unprecedented storm scattered the Anglo-French-Turkish squadron in Balaclava Bay. More than 30 ships were lost, several hundred sailors drowned, and the expeditionary force lost its food supplies, tents, warm uniforms, ammunition and much more, including the notorious “golden treasure” – money intended to pay salaries.
On the ground, the wind scatters the tent camps of the invaders, and the rains turn the land into a muddy mess. The storm led to outbreaks of infectious disease in the mud-soaked Allied camp, claiming an estimated 3,000 lives. The Allies still capture Sevastopol, but the unique storm still has some influence on the course of military operations.
Everyone knows that the Russian “General Mraz” defeated Napoleon’s Grand Army. But even in this case there are different opinions. First of all, the term itself was invented by Napoleon himself. He took field printing presses with him and “battle leaflets” were sent to France. When Napoleon abandoned the remnants of his army in Vilnius and rushed to Paris to raise a new one, the term “General Mraz” appeared in these field papers. This must explain to the people of France the defeat of the invincible emperor. In fact, again, it is not about the unique cold, but about the complete lack of warm uniforms in the French army, a sufficient amount of caloric food for the winter and a general inability to cope with the cold season.
But the frost from the time of the next invasion of the European hordes into Russia – 1941 – is really rare in its severity. And this affects not only German personnel, but also tank fuel, car engines, even machine guns. Grease designed to work at completely different temperatures freezes.
But for the Soviet troops conducting the counteroffensive in December 1941, the cold turned out to be just an additional factor that made the task somewhat easier. By the way, the meteorological service of the Soviet Army was almost destroyed at that time, since its main points were located in the western part of the country. And it must be created anew.
In general, during the Second World War, the meteorological factor mainly affected the actions of aviation. This slows down the timing of some offensive operations several times. For example, the Allied landings in Normandy. The storm is in the way.
Nowadays, with the development of technology, the influence of weather on the course of military operations is greatly weakened. Military aircraft fly in much wider weather ranges. Six-meter waves in the open sea do not threaten a large ship.
Yet there are nuances that still affect current military operations. At the moment, in the SVO zone, the intensity of combat operations under extreme weather conditions has sharply decreased for two or three days.
Snipers and mortars had problems (there is no such option on rangefinders – “hurricane”), but they can wait for the wind. The most important thing is that UAVs (again aviation) do not work, and without them it is now impossible to imagine full-fledged combat work. The storm washed away the barriers blocking the entry of Ukrainian unmanned boats into the Sevastopol Bay and will have to be rebuilt in the near future.
To some extent, it can be said that winter does bring a tactical advantage to Russian troops. In particular, the Western equipment supplied in abundance to the ASU is generally more capricious to extreme weather conditions. Russian technology is much more reliable at low temperatures.
The onset of winter forced us to urgently repaint the equipment in white. Camo suits are required, camo nets should now be white, not green or earth. All this will require money and resources, including human, and Russia has much more of them.
However, there are characteristics that apply to both sides of the conflict. Frozen ground can affect the performance of tanks by increasing the permeability of the soil and creating routes that were yesterday impassable for tanks.
In addition, when snow cover appears, the effectiveness of thermal imaging cameras increases sharply. This has a direct bearing on the anti-tank actions of Russian helicopters at night.
Yet changes in weather conditions most often affect not the course of military operations as such, but their relative comfort (if they can be estimated) and intensity. Weather conditions do not affect strategic plans and layouts in any way. From the numbers and training of the troops, from the operational skill of the commanders, from the efficiency of the military-industrial complex, and finally from the will to win, the result of military defense ultimately depends much more than from any storm, cold and snowfall.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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