Winter has begun in Ukraine and the cold is already taking its toll on the poorly equipped Russian Army. Soldiers dying out in the open or curled up in trenches with little protection is becoming a common sight.
It gets worse. The photo below shows a pile of dead Russians outside a building and attributes that to hypothermia. Of course, that can’t be confirmed, but it’s a good bet. Nonetheless, several commenters challenged that idea, arguing that you can’t get hypothermia from temps of 43 F, which isn’t true. It’s actually easier to get hypothermia than you’d think.
Others suggest that Russians are able to withstand the cold because they’re tough. That’s just BS.
The temps quoted below were during the day. Doesn’t say what the nighttime temps were.
Still, if this isn’t the result of hypothermia, perhaps aggravated by other factors like alcohol, I’m not sure what else would explain this.
The reasons why hypothermia is going to be a big cause of death are pretty obvious and there doesn’t seem to be any hope for Russian troops that anything will be done to improve their situation. The estimate below of 100k dead seems shocking and rather high, but it’s not inconceivable. Russia lost more than that to hypothermia during WWII and the war with Finland. Many things have improved since then. Maybe not.
The effects of the weather can help to explain a phenomenon that seems unreal on the numerous videos that have been posted of drones dropping grenades on Russian troops in trenches or just lying on the ground.
In many of these videos the soldiers appear to have very little reaction to a grenade exploded right next to them. How can that be possible? I’ve wondered that myself. And I’m not the only one.
This thread offers one explanation:
But it’s not just the cold. It’s “hopeless men in a hopeless situation.” Contributing factors, of course, are likely alcohol and a generally lack of enough food.
And then there is this video (warning — it’s gripping) of a Wagner commander who has been wounded deciding to shoot himself apparently to avoid capture. He struggles with the rifle and it doesn’t show him actually pulling the trigger but you see him later lying motionless with no reaction when the grenades explode next to him.
Why he doesn’t shoot the drone is a mystery to me but maybe he’s just out of it from cold, pain, etc.