Ukraine’s Winter Could Turn Against Russian Troops

The Wall Street Journal ^ | January 21, 2023 | Alistair MacDonald and Oksana Pyrozhok

[Timber Rattler]

In the battle to keep warm, Ukrainian infantryman Kyrylo Molchanov has turned to “trench candles”—empty food cans packed with cardboard—to heat his front-line dugout.

With Russia and Ukraine fighting through the winter, keeping Ukrainian soldiers warm could become a competitive advantage for Kyiv.

For armies, winter weather affects everything from maneuverability to battery power. But the cold and wet can have a crushing effect on soldiers’ morale and ability to fight, while creating potential medical problems.

The U.S. and its allies have sent hundreds of thousands of pieces of winter clothing. Ukraine has supplemented those supplies from elsewhere, and the various items in Lt. Molchanov’s uniform come from several countries.

Some Russian soldiers seem to be arriving for battle less well kitted out, hindered in part by a hasty mobilization drive in the fall.

Ukraine’s armed forces are adapting, cutting wood from local forests, sourcing smaller barracks and using the trench candles, which volunteers and family send packed tight with rolls of cardboard.

“If you light it an hour or two before going to bed, it heats up more than you would expect,” Lt. Molchanov said from Ukraine’s southern front line.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

No, historical fact.

[PIF]

That’s the Ukraine Army mascot dog

[aMorePerfectUnion]

We’re your football players doing this at 5:30am - unpaid - because it is their normal schedule?

[gleeaikin]

I have no idea how you came up with 5:30 am when I said yesterday. It was a regular pro US football game happening in a light snow. So presumably rugged Americans playing bare armed. I guess I was somewhat rugged too when I walked to classes in a midwest winter, 8 am, -25f, windy, skirt and knee high socks. This was a year before it became common for women to wear leotards or slacks when going to classes. I weighed 125 lbs and it took the hour in lecture for my knees to warm up before walking 5 blocks to the next class. When my late husband wanted to move back there, I told him NO! Those winters would destroy our marriage.

[Widget Jr]

My response to your ping on another thread is from what I posted here:

Ukraine is caught between US and Russian corruption. The US corruption was looking for money, the Russian corruption is part of an insurgency to keep Ukraine under Russia's thumb.

Its like working in construction in New York without the Mob shaking someone down. Its pretty hard to be honest when the biggest players in the game won't let you.

Ukraine absolutely has corruption problems. That in no way justifies the invasion or denying their right to defend their sovereignty. What the article shows is Zelensky is trying to deal with the problem. Any effort starting to reduce Ukraine's corruption is going to be extremely difficult no matter who is in charge or what policy is pursued.

The international corruption rating fail to account how countries corrupt each other. If how the US, China, Europe and Russia exert undue influence on other countries, then the most powerful countries would look a lot worse.