Winter has played a major role in Russian and Ukrainian military history. It was decisive in their victories over Napoleon and Nazi Germany, and in what Kyiv-born writer Mikhail Bulgakov called that “great and terrible year” of 1918, when “the snowstorm from the north howled and howled” and Ukraine was beginning its war of independence.
The weather is set to be a critical factor again as the fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces enters its ninth month, security officials and military experts said.
Keeping warm in a country where winter temperatures can drop as low as -30C is not the only consideration. At such extremes, equipment becomes harder to operate, booby traps can be hidden under snow, more fuel is needed for generators, supplies must move at night as there is less field cover, and navigation systems for some drones ice over. Even bullets are slower because cold air is denser than warm.