Did Putin and the Russian Army forget about "General Mud"?

[martybegan]

An interesting take on why maybe Russia is having so much issues with mobility in their assault

'Tanks and mud are not friends' — Ukraine's terrain is proving to be a problem for Russian armor

Images of Russian tanks and other vehicles stuck in the mud seem to complement news that the Russian army’s invasion of Ukraine has been hampered by logistical issues, which has provided opportunities for Ukraine’s fierce resistance to further stymie Russia’s advance. Few things symbolize those problems better than a large, expensive war machine mired in muck. But the issue isn’t new. Mud has hampered warfare for as long as there has been mud and war.

For example, Nazi Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union slowed to a crawl in 1941 in part due to the Rasputitsa, the “quagmire season” which led vehicles to become “hopelessly stuck” after autumn rains transformed dirt roads into rivers of mud, according to the United Kingdom’s Imperial War Museum. But mud plays no favorites and chooses no sides. U.S. Army tanks also became “hopelessly stuck” in mud during the November 1950 Battle of Chosin Reservoir, according to the Army Historical Foundation.

This is a known phenomenon, and was used by the Russians to their advantage during WWII. They knew they would have set break periods where German offensives would be bogged down.

Rasputitsa - Wikipedia


If Putin wanted a quick war he either should have done it in December, or waited until June. In the former the frozen ground would make mobile warfare easier, in the latter, the dry season does the same.

 

[odanny]

Welp, I take it back, you're not completely stupid.

 

[Viacheslav]

No, they miscalculated at all. The main mistake is that they (the Russian military command) planned that the Ukrainian population would be happy about the invasion and would greet the Russians with flowers. And the Ukrainian army would quickly surrender, for the same reason Russia gathered an army of only 150-170 thousand troops. This huge mistake will cost Putin his life and the country as a whole. For me, this senseless war and the reason for it is only Putin's madness, he's gone crazy.

 

[Litwin]

An interesting take on why maybe Russia is having so much issues with mobility in their assault

'Tanks and mud are not friends' — Ukraine's terrain is proving to be a problem for Russian armor



This is a known phenomenon, and was used by the Russians to their advantage during WWII. They knew they would have set break periods where German offensives would be bogged down.

Rasputitsa - Wikipedia


If Putin wanted a quick war he either should have done it in December, or waited until June. In the former the frozen ground would make mobile warfare easier, in the latter, the dry season does the same.

 

[Litwin]

An interesting take on why maybe Russia is having so much issues with mobility in their assault

'Tanks and mud are not friends' — Ukraine's terrain is proving to be a problem for Russian armor



This is a known phenomenon, and was used by the Russians to their advantage during WWII. They knew they would have set break periods where German offensives would be bogged down.

Rasputitsa - Wikipedia


If Putin wanted a quick war he either should have done it in December, or waited until June. In the former the frozen ground would make mobile warfare easier, in the latter, the dry season does the same.

 

[Litwin]

This huge mistake will cost Putin his life and the country as a whole.

+1

 

[Mushroom]

If Putin wanted a quick war he either should have done it in December, or waited until June. In the former the frozen ground would make mobile warfare easier, in the latter, the dry season does the same.

I think he expected to just walk in, and the Ukrainians would surrender after only a brief symbolic resistance. That was a major miscalculation on his part, and he and his forces are paying for it now.

But much of the reason for the late start was he was waiting for Natural Gas reserves in Europe to be at their lowest point. He thought that would allow him to blackmail Europe to stay completely out of it, and not do any serious sanctions against him and his government. But that once again was a miscalculation, as Europe is having none of that.

 

[martybegan]

I think he expected to just walk in, and the Ukrainians would surrender after only a brief symbolic resistance. That was a major miscalculation on his part, and he and his forces are paying for it now.

But much of the reason for the late start was he was waiting for Natural Gas reserves in Europe to be at their lowest point. He thought that would allow him to blackmail Europe to stay completely out of it, and not do any serious sanctions against him and his government. But that once again was a miscalculation, as Europe is having none of that.

Also as spring comes in the need for natural gas drops, they maybe could survive on tanker shipped gas from other countries.

 

[Mushroom]

Also as spring comes in the need for natural gas drops, they maybe could survive on tanker shipped gas from other countries.

Not appreciably, and as I said the reserves each country would be at their lowest as they had used them during the winter.

Winter is indeed the highest use time, but that is when they tap reserves as the pipelines often can not provide enough to meet all of the demands. Now those reserves are at their lowest, and Russia was likely thinking they would not dare cut the pipeline as they needed it. Their mistake, as they did indeed cut Russia off.