Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict continues to escalate. From the day Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a “military operation” in Ukrainian cities till today – the face of the conflict has changed entirely with reports of deaths, massive loss of property and refugee crisis.
The latest reports have mentioned that Kyiv will soon be encircled, with Russian tanks in places just a few kilometres from the city limits to the east.
The Russian troops, on the outskirts of Kyiv, are maybe waiting for directions from the top officials to proceed further. However, if reports are to be believed, they are currently stranded and are in dire conditions.
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Daily Mail reported that Russian troops could freeze to death in tanks and armoured military vehicles this week as temperatures are set to plunge.
As per the report, a pronounced cold snap in eastern Europe means the temperatures could drop to -10C overnight in the middle of the week around Kyiv and Kharkiv. It can go down to even -20C in case of the wind chill.
News agencies have reported that over the last five days, the Russians have advanced more than 80 kilometres on the north-eastern front and closing in on the Ukrainian capital.
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Meanwhile, a solid Ukrainian resistance has been quite impactful so far, but apart from the resistance, it has been understood that the Russian troops faced mechanical problems and fuel supply issues.
Now the icy conditions are expected to make the situation even worse for the Russian soldiers.
The media outlet quoted former British Army Major Kevin Price, who said the tanks will become nothing more than “40-ton freezers” as the temperature is dropping, weighing in on whether Russian soldiers are capable of Arctic-style warfare. Price said such low temperatures in March is set to become “unbelievably tough”.
The report also quoted Glen Grant, who is a senior defence expert at the Baltic Security Foundation. Grant said that a tank “is just a fridge at night if you are not running the engine”. In the current state, the Russian convoy outside Kyiv cannot afford run engines unnecessarily because there’s fuel scarcity.
Grant told Newsweek, “You just can’t sit around and wait because if you are in the vehicle you are waiting to be killed. They are not stupid.”
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