Russian troops are being removed from the frontlines of the war with Ukraine because of frostbite.
A senior US defense official has claimed that some Russian troops have been taken out by frostbite in Ukraine. Russia’s forces are said to be lacking suitable cold-weather clothing as some have reportedly been taken out of the battle.
The official told reporters during a Pentagon briefing that the frostbite problem had forced some Russian troops to the sidelines during the war. The official said “They’re struggling on many fronts,” according to the Task & Purpose reporter Haley Britzky.
A Ukrainian military shared what it said was an intercepted call from a Russian officer leading invading troops in the Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv who said half of his troops had frostbite. He added that they were struggling to evacuate their dead and provide enough tents for those still alive.
Dmitri Alperovitch, a Russian-born American cybersecurity executive, tweeted the Ukrainian military’s alleged recording of the Russian officer. Alperovitch wrote: “Fascinating claimed intercepted call from Russian officer near Mykolaiv to superiors in Russia.”
“He says: This is worse than Chechnya. 50% of troops have frostbite. They can’t evacuate the dead. Don’t have enough tents. RU plane dropped a bomb on their own position,” Alperovitch added.
A soldier is also heard to complain that the reality of the attempt to take Ukraine was very different from the promises made by a commander who had visited his unit on the fourth day of the invasion.
The soldier apparently said: “Do you know what (the commander) said? “It is no secret that this operation is going to be over in mere hours”. Their mere hours are still ticking.”
According to the United Kingdom’s National Health Service, frostbite typically will set in rapidly in extremely cold conditions with high winds, however, lengthy periods of exposure to temperatures below 31 degrees Fahrenheit can lead to frostbite.
Ukrainian military commanders have alleged that Russian troops have only three more days of fuel, food, and ammunition left to conduct the war after a breakdown in their supply chains.
The official said: “We do think that the Russian forces have used a lot of material including particular categories of weapons and we have seen isolated reports of particular units that have lacked supplies of one sort or another.”
“It is consistent with an advance which has ground to a halt. Failures in the logistic chain has been one of the reasons they have not been as effective as they hoped,” the official added.
Nearly a month into the war, Russian troops have failed to seize a single major city and their advance has been halted on nearly all fronts by staunch Ukrainian defense.
Now Ukrainian forces are preparing to retake captured territory as Russian forces battle declining morale, according to the latest Pentagon assessments.
The number of Russian casualties remains unclear as a Russian tabloid claimed that more than 9,000 Russian soldiers had been killed in the fighting. Russian authorities pushed back on the report, saying it was published as the result of a hacking operation.
The Ukrainians have deployed devastating hit-and-run tactics against enemy tanks and according to US President Biden, Putin now has his “back against the wall” because of this. Western officials have described this as a “plausible” situation to have happened to Putin’s troops.
Meanwhile, Washington and its allies have sent Javelin anti-armor and Stinger anti-aircraft weapons, to ensure Ukraine remains supplied with key systems.
Moreover, Moscow’s forces have also suffered setbacks in areas including Makariv, near Kyiv, which is raising fears that a desperate Vladimir Putin may turn to chemical weapons.
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