Temperatures in Ukraine are already below zero. But it’s getting a lot cooler. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (44) has prepared his compatriots for a harsh winter with heavy Russian attacks. “As long as they have missiles, they will not rest,” Selenski said on Sunday.
Putin’s forces are currently attacking power plants and cutting off heating, electricity and water to Ukrainian households. NATO therefore wants to increase its winter aid to Kiev. President Vladimir Putin (70) wants to “use winter as a weapon of war,” Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (63) said Tuesday at the meeting of foreign ministers in the Romanian capital Bucharest.
But winter is also a challenge on the battlefield. That is why Finnish President Sauli Niinistö (74) has offered to help prepare and train the Ukrainians for the winter battle. The president attended a large-scale exercise by the Finnish army with the air force and border guard troops. The troops train in winter conditions.
“We know how to use them”
Niinistö appeared in a white camouflage suit and told reporters that he wanted to support the soldiers in Ukraine not only with weapons, but also with proper handling in the winter. “Training on these devices can of course be very useful. We know how to use them,” the president said on Tuesday, as reported by the Finnish TV channel YLE.
Finland was invaded by the Soviet Union in 1939. Despite the freezing winter and a large number of Russian soldiers, the Finns put up fierce resistance and inflicted heavy losses on the Red Army. In the end, however, they were forced to cede much of the eastern region of Karelia to Moscow.
Incidentally, winter is also likely to be tough for Putin’s soldiers. Unlike the Ukrainians, the Russian troops do not have Nato sleeping bags with which they can survive the biting nights in the Donbass, often with minus 30 degrees, unscathed. (jmh)