Mouse plague in the Ukrainian trenches: “They are chewing our fingertips”

class=”sc-cffd1e67-0 iQNQmc”>

As if the Ukrainian winter wasn’t harsh enough, as if the daily battle at the front wasn’t grueling enough, the soldiers in the trenches also have to fight another plague: mice. They spread disease, causing fighters to develop fever, rashes and vomiting, and some even bleed from their eyes.

A soldier nicknamed Kira tells CNN how her battalion was overwhelmed by a mouse epidemic near Zaporizhia. “Imagine going to bed and starting the night with a mouse crawling into your pants or sweater, chewing on your fingertips or biting your hand. Depending on how lucky you are, you’ll get two or three hours of sleep.”

Mice even disable vehicles

She says there were about 1,000 mice in her shelter along with four soldiers. They crawl into beds, sleeping bags, backpacks, generators, and scurry around in pillowcases and uniform pockets. They gnaw on cables and wires, crawl into vehicles and render them immobile.

Almost nothing helps against the animals, not even cats. Kira tells CNN that they brought a cat with them, which helped catch some mice, but eventually surrendered. The soldiers stock up on anti-rodent products in the shops behind the front, spray ammonia, set traps and still cannot get the plague under control.

Even worse than the bites are the diseases the mice carry. As early as December, Ukrainian intelligence reported that Russian troops were weakened by “mouse fever.” This is caused by inhaling mouse droppings or mouse droppings in food.

Ukraine replicates the Surovikin line

The situation is unlikely to improve in the coming weeks. Moreover, Ukraine, like the Russian aggressor, is currently entrenched along the front. New trenches have been built along the front line, concrete dragon’s teeth have been erected and new command centers have been built. The Telegraaf reports this.

Ukraine is building its own Surovikin line, named after Russian general Sergei Surovikin (57). This brought the Ukrainian counter-offensive to a halt by massively reinforcing several defense lines. They are very similar to the Russian model: it is also a model of trenches, tank traps and vast minefields.

However, the Ukrainians find themselves in a dilemma: the more they entrench their army in trench warfare, the more hope of recapturing the Russian-occupied territories diminishes.

According to the Telegraph, this is why the concept of ‘active defense’ comes into play: holding the defensive lines while simultaneously going on the offensive in the hope of finding weaknesses that could lead to a collapse of the Russian lines. (neo)

Source: Blick