Russian military units engaged in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine are likely experiencing significant shortages of potable water, according to a recent defence intelligence update from the UK Ministry of Defence.
The shortages have reportedly been exacerbated by ongoing Russian strikes against utilities infrastructure, which are “almost certainly curtailing water supply,” the update states.
The situation is further worsened by a period of above-average temperatures in the region, compounding the difficulties faced by Russian forces. The update highlights that “any water supply issues will have been exacerbated by a period of above-average temperature in the region,” suggesting that the combination of damaged infrastructure and extreme heat creates dire conditions for the troops.
The severity of the situation was underscored on 23 July 2024, when a pro-Russian military blogger reported that water rations for Russian pilots had been drastically reduced to just one litre per day.
This amount is “equivalent to a quarter of minimum recommended water requirements for working in high temperatures,” according to the update. The limited water supply has reportedly forced Russian pilots to approach local citizens for additional water, indicating the desperation of the situation.
In response to the crisis, the blogger has appealed to Russian water production companies to supply additional water to Russian military bases in Rostov, Voronezh, and Crimean air bases. The call for assistance highlights the significant logistical challenges currently faced by Russian forces, as they struggle to maintain essential supplies amid the ongoing conflict and environmental pressures.
The water shortages not only threaten the health and operational effectiveness of Russian military personnel but also reflect the broader difficulties Russia faces in sustaining its military efforts in Ukraine under increasingly challenging conditions.
Yes indeed the British army is completely unprepared to fight the Russian army despite the laters inability to deliver even basic water rations to its soldiers much less supply them with equipment and logistics.
If not for two brigades of US soldiers based in Europe the Russians would sweep away all European army’s and charge straight to Berlin, Paris and Calais (presumably filling their water bottles up in the Rhine)
Something about the current narrative doesn’t seem right to me 🧐
Jim, why would the British Army have to confront the Russians? Any potential conflict would be a NATO affair, of which we are but a part. The current situation precludes any “sweeping” by the Russians
Yes I’m scratching my head on that one as well but that’s what General Sir Patrick Sanders said and he is the head of the British army so he must be right.
I’m guessing the Russians have developed some sort of giant sponge able to suck up all the water from the Baltic and North Sea and they will invade the UK via Norfolk 😀
Well Sir Patrick is not the head of the British Army. That would be Sir Roland Walker. He also didn’t say that Russia would sweep away all of Europes Armies, but he did say that the British Army is too small and that if we where to go to Russia we’d have to look at expanding and fighting a “whole nation” effort, which is undoubtedly true.
So he is not just looking for a bigger budget then and talking up an implausible hypothetical situation where Britain is fighting a land war against Russia without NATO?
I don’t think he ever suggested that Britain would fight a Land War against NATO, but even with NATO the truth is if we get into any serious land war we are going to have to expand the mass of the armed forces, and do so quickly.
Acting like that’s “looking for a bigger budget” is ignoring the reality of the situation we are in.
“I don’t think he ever suggested that Britain would fight a land war against NATO”
Well I should certainly hope he didn’t !!!
I knew what you meant but just found it a bit funny. 😁
That would certainly be a challenge 😀
The dangers of posting tired.
Jim, this is about the Russian forces lacking water. How do you make the jump to speculating about a British Army vs Russian Army conflict?
How do you assume that the defence of western Europe is wholly dependent on just two US brigades? What do you think we have by way of western European nations’ armies?
Why do you think the Russian Army is currently able to defeat all European armies in a hard charge to Calais? The Russians are poorly led, poorly trained, don’t know how to do manouevre warfare, have poor strategy and tactics, have suffered huge attrition in manpower and materiel, have low morale, have insufficient high-quality modern kit and rely on much old equipment, high desertion rate, an over-reliance on conscripts, poor logistics, weak engineering support, have poor political leadership etc etc.
Something about your narrative doesn’t seem right!
One litre a day for pilots! With all the associated known damage that dehydration has on cognition and alertness… not good for Ivan
There’s me thinking they only drink Vodka. 😁
I once used vodka as screen wash in Germany (BAOR) because it was cheaper than the proper stuff.
watching the russian army has been like watching a monty python sitcom based in ww3, they always find a way to outdo themselves. just yesterday i saw a video of them trying a ‘tactical’ assault of a ukrainian trench filmed from a drone- some russian bloke pulls his APC to a halt 5 meters in front of the trench – releases a smoke screen… only the smoke comes out of the wrong side of vehicle- the opposite side as the trench, so when his friends in the back jump out they are in perfect view of the ukrainians, with the smoke obscuring the direction they should run for cover, so they all instantly get gunned down the second they jump out. such needless slaughter- but russians will just tell eachother the video must be fake- so they won’t learn from it or understand the need for training- and we’ll no doubt see it again.
now there are russian pilots going around to civilians begging for water – no doubt they won’t learn anything from that either lol. i guarantee that soon we’ll see russians complaining that some of their pilots have been poisoned and wondering how such a thing could happen: “but putin spent millions on a contract for water logistics soldiers!! how could this be?! is someone misplacing the funds?!!” as the ukrainians have said so eloquently since the beginning: “thank god they’re so f’ing stupid!”
Excuse me are you the Putins peoples front. F**k off. Putins peoples front. Were the peoples front of putin. Putins peoples front! W*****s!
Oh dear how sad, never mind.
The Ukraine forces have a plan, their systematic degrading of the supply route across the Azov sea is part of it. This has only just started and their operational security is 100%,
De-hydrated Russians. Yes, yes very sad. Very sad. Anywhoooo…
Wish there’d run out of Ammunition 🙏
and murderous idiots willing to sign a contract.
👍
Videos about with the orcs scooping water out of puddles and harvesting condensation in dugouts for water.
It’s a really good reminder of the complexity of modern (and arguably historic) warfare. We are all guilty of jumping on ‘what capability/weapons/range/combat systems/strategy/tactics’ bandwagon in the comments. But even the most basic requirements are incredibly complex when operating in a contested environment. Even if it is not as sexy as talking shiny kit and section attacks. NATO planning for sustained combat is 10L of potable water per person per day… if you are only receiving 1L of drinking water, how are you cooking, washing and doing laundry. Boring stuff but this level of attrition will have a significant impact on the troops.
As my first boss used to say, “J4 wins the war” (which normally received a disingenuous sneer from any ‘warfighter’ present!)