The war in Ukraine: – – Weapons in themselves

Napoleon’s army in 1812. The German Sixth Army which was wiped out at Stalingrad in the winter of 1942/43. Cold is a familiar enemy that has claimed the lives of many soldiers.

Winter has announced its arrival in several locations in eastern Ukraine. As Russia shells Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure, Russian soldiers themselves are struggling to keep warm.

In a video circulating on social media, a Ukrainian drone flies over a Russian troop. Forbes featured video.

The soldiers are lying together in a makeshift trench when the Ukrainian drone drops a grenade on them.

Then little happens. Very little.

Now there is speculation on social media whether Russian soldiers are suffering from frostbite, the so-called hypothermia, which means they do not move when the grenade falls.

– The weapon itself

– The interesting thing about winter is that if you can control it better than your opponent, it can become a weapon itself, Lieutenant Colonel Palle Ydstebø tells Dagbladet.

He does not exclude that the video could be real, but comments on the situation at the front in a more general way.

– If it’s cold and rainy, there is no food and the soldiers are alone without a leader – then it doesn’t even need to be freezing. It doesn’t take long before you don’t react, says Ydstebø the soldiers barely move.

The lieutenant colonel explains that it is freezing at night and damp during the day in various parts of the front.

– Winter increases normal wear and tear by being in the field. It’s just harder being a soldier. It takes a lot of self-discipline and routine to handle this type of relationship.

– Does Russia have it?

– The new soldiers, more or less forcibly recruited, have received minimal training. Old and faulty equipment is reported. It’s not clear whether they have good enough clothes, says Ydstebø of the coming cold weather.

– Better prepare yourself

– History has shown that the one who is prepared for winter wins, says Ydstebø.

– Ukraine has prepared better, it seems. They have access to large amounts of winter gear. Partly they have it themselves, and partly they get it from the West.

Ydstebø points out that soldiers’ impact power is directly influenced by how they deal with the cold.

– He will have a lot to say about who masters winter. The opponent is cold, freezes and loses concentration, says and adds:

– You are less mobile. You get boring. You feel sorry for yourself. If you also lack leadership, you risk a vicious circle in which things get worse and worse.

Lieutenant Colonel Ydstebø does not rule out that Russia will suffer heavy losses due to the cold.

– It can happen now. The Germans suffered the greatest cold losses in the winter of 1941 to 1942, he says, and points out that the forces were then poorly equipped for winter.

– The conditions you fight in matter a lot. It is important to master them.

– Not much food

Even the lieutenant colonel and dean of the Defense Staff School, Geir Hågen Karlsen, says the Russians are poorly equipped for the winter.

– We have received many reports of poor equipment and poor training among newly mobilized being sent to the front. The scope is now so large that there is no doubt that this is a significant problem, Hågen Karlsen tells Dagbladet.

– Up until now it has been very wet. It is wet and muddy with dire conditions for those on the front lines, says the lieutenant colonel and adds:

– In some cases, soldiers receive very little food. And it isn’t long before it really is winter. So it will seriously affect both combat capability and morale.

– To freeze to death

– The West also emphasizes winter gear in its support for Ukraine, providing sleeping bags and winter clothes and the like, he says.

Hågen Karlsen points out that material conditions have a direct impact on the fighting ability of soldiers.

– If the equipment is so bad that you can’t warm up over time, it directly affects your ability to fight. There are many examples in history of frostbite or soldiers just freezing to death, she says.

However, Hågen Karlsen points out that many of the Russian recruits are used to harsh conditions.

– Many of the soldiers are from poorer parts of Russia. We have to be a little careful to look at their conditions through Norwegian eyes.

– Hellish mud

Lieutenant Colonel Hågen Karlsen says the war is now largely a war of positions.

He doesn’t believe Russia has the capability to launch a major offensive in the first place.

– Russians dig along it approx. First line 1000 kilometers long. This is what you can do when you have poorly trained soldiers and bad equipment: Dig trenches and hold positions, he says and adds:

– They are willing to take big losses to maintain their positions.

– In my opinion, the Russians do not have much ability to launch offensive operations right away. It is possible that the Ukrainians have it, but it will not happen until there is a real frost and the frost has not settled on the ground. Right now it’s the mud hell of another world down there, he says.

Rocket Attack: “Winter of Horror”

– Shop faucet

Hågen Karlsen mentions the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union in 1939/40 and Napoleon’s attempt to capture Moscow in the winter of 1812 as examples of wars in which cold played an important and deadly role.

– We know historically that cold, poor equipment and disease have historically taken the lives of many soldiers, he says.

Despite the fact that the warring parties are engaged in positional warfare, there can be heavy losses on the battlefield, the lieutenant colonel emphasizes.

– There are heavy losses along parts of the front. The lines aren’t moving much, but there’s a lot of artillery fire and a lot of people are lost, he says.

– You hear about it especially when the front lines are moving, but in reality we have seen a war of attrition along the front for a long time, he says in conclusion and refers to the fighting in Donetsk and Luhansk in the east of the country since 2014 .