The troubles of the Russians told through the story of army socks Zelenskyj warns of new attacks – night update without photos

The dominant view of current war events gives the Ukrainians a slight edge. And that’s because, even historically, winter benefits defenders of territories. Added to this is the poor equipment of the Russian soldiers. Combined with a lack of leadership and training a toxic mixture. The dangerous result: so-called trench feet and hypothermia.

The internet is awash with reports of drafted Russian conscripts ranting sarcastically about the “equipment” they are sent to the front as cannon fodder. For example, a video circulated in which a recruit would present the equipment he had just received: unlined rubber boots, kid gloves and a protective paintball mask. How bad the Russian equipment really is is difficult to independently verify.

Not only is the morale of the troops suffering from the poor equipment, with temperatures sometimes well below freezing, hypothermia and frostbite are becoming a military problem.

An old acquaintance from the First World War

However, for the “Grabenfuss” you don’t even need icy temperatures. It occurs when the feet are stuck in cold, damp socks and shoes for days on end. Sometimes blisters develop into life-threatening infections. Trenches were rife during World War I, when soldiers spent months in the trenches, facing water, mud and cold. With the trench warfare in Ukraine, the trenches and foot of the trenches, long believed to be a thing of the past, have returned to European reality.

At the beginning of winter, a recording of a Ukrainian combat drone positioning itself over a hole in the ground with soldiers crouching in it and dropping a grenade made the rounds on Twitter. Apparently, some Russian soldiers did not even notice that the grenade had fallen, while others dragged themselves helplessly away from the grenade. Long-range diagnosticians agreed: The soldiers suffered from hypothermia, having already spent the night in the hole – without further protection and in temperatures near freezing.

Some war observers warn that discussions of shortcomings in the Russian military only distract from the fact that the war still favors the Russians in the longer term. An employee of the Estonian Ministry of Defense made the following comparison with the British “Economist”: Within the framework of programs of Great Britain and the European Union, about 30,000 Ukrainian soldiers could be trained in 18 months. Russia can conjure up five times as many new soldiers in a fraction of this time.

Putin’s cynical but simple calculation: poor training, lack of leadership and inadequate equipment count for little as long as new men can be constantly thrown onto the front lines.

On the other hand, this shows how difficult it would be for Ukraine to face an equal opponent, despite being armed by the West and having high morale.

Controversial socks in the Russian army

The history of a device that is now a museum piece shows how important material handling once was in the Russian army. A simple piece of cloth attracted a lot of attention, Fussflops in German, Poryanki in Russian. Russian soldiers did not have socks until 2013. Instead, the soldiers wrapped their feet in the rectangular poryanki before slipping them into their boots. The French called them “Russian socks” (“chaussettes russes”), which has to do with the fact that the Russian army was the last in the world to use the rags.

Of course, wrapping your feet in “Poryanki” is also a hit with Ukrainian propaganda:

So while recruits in Switzerland were memorizing their social security numbers for the first time, the leaders of the Russian team were drumming up their recruits on how to properly wrap the rags around their feet. Blisters and cold feet threaten if not used professionally. Even walking around the barracks was torture.

When Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced the switch to socks, many soldiers reacted angrily. On forums they listed the benefits, including better hygiene and better warmth compared to socks.

Whether that is actually the case remains to be seen. Nevertheless, there’s a lesson to be learned: If the Russian soldiers were still going through the hard footcloth exercise they did back then, they might know how to better protect themselves from hypothermia. But, as Putin knows, given the vast stockpile of “cannon fodder” such considerations are superfluous. (bzbasel.ch)