Ukraine Cold Snap Set To Freeze Russian Convoy, Could See Soldiers Quit
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severe cold snap could push Russian troops to desert a convoy that has been stalled outside of Kyiv for the last few days, a military advisor to Ukraine's armed forces has said.
A Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces member by a destroyed Russian military vehicle outside Kharkiv Ukraine, on March 7, 2022 in this illustrative image. A Russian convoy has stalled outside of Kyiv.
© SERGEY BOBOK/Getty
A Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces member by a destroyed Russian military vehicle outside Kharkiv Ukraine, on March 7, 2022 in this illustrative image. A Russian convoy has stalled outside of Kyiv.
Arctic air moving through Russia and Ukraine will combine with an easterly wind to make the temperature feel as cold as minus 20 by Wednesday, according to forecasts.
Russian troops are expected to find these conditions tough as they remain stuck in a column around 20 miles outside of the Ukrainian capital that has barely moved since last week.
"A metal tank is just a fridge at night if you are not running the engine," said Glen Grant, a senior defense expert at the Baltic Security Foundation who advised Ukraine on its military reform."
"The cold weather is going to demoralize troops even further and will create even more refrigerators," he told Newsweek.
Grant said that the weather will add to the logistical problems Russian troops already face and he expects many to simply quit their vehicles.
"The boys won't wait. They will get out, start walking to the forest, and give themselves up," he said.
"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."
The presence of Russia's 40-mile-long convoy, with an estimated 15,000 troops, first sparked alarm that an advance on the Ukrainian capital was imminent and speculation that it could encircle Kyiv to allow a siege on the city.
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