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The temperature in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv recently dropped to 25 degrees and Ukrainians are freezing as Russian airstrikes hit the country’s vital infrastructure, cutting off electricity and heating and depriving them of drinking water.
But “General Frost”, whom the Russians have relied on for centuries to help defeat the country’s enemies, has also turned his weapon against the soldiers of President Vladimir Putin. Russian forces, which have been fighting, on Putin’s orders, against their Slavic brothers for 10 months, are reportedly dying of hypothermia because their uniform no longer withstands the harsh Eurasian winters.
The fiasco stems from several bizarre decisions made by the post-Soviet military leadership and by Putin himself.
The Soviet Red Army uniform was a poor version of the Russian Imperial Army dress of the 19th century. In the run-up to World War II, when Russia had the largest army in Europe, approximately 2 million soldiers, Moscow prioritized inexpensive but effective haute couture, over the pompous, flashy designs favored by tsarist generals. . The uniform was practical, with no more frills than a bright distinctive badge worn by senior officers that made them easy targets for German marksmen.
Russian servicemen march in Red Square during the dress rehearsal of the Victory Day military parade in Moscow on May 6, 2018.
(Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images)
Winter clothing included a half-length fur coat or coat, a cap with ear flaps, and valenki footwear of thick felted wool worn by Russian military and civilians alike for hundreds of years. Designed for extreme Russian winters, the uniforms helped Russian forces defeat the French in 1812 and the Germans in 1941-1945. Napoleon Bonaparte admitted that the Russian winter was largely responsible for the disintegration of his army. Many of Hitler’s lightly clad Nazi troops also froze to death.
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However, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, eager to shed their communist heritage, several post-Soviet defense ministers introduced changes to the Russian uniform. Army General Pavel Grachev, who was Boris Yeltsin’s defense minister, instituted changes that made the Russian uniform resemble that of NATO.
An exception was the officers’ field cap which proudly sported a new Russian national symbol, the double-headed eagle, which the soldiers called a “mutated chicken”. Igor Sergeyev, who rose to defense minister in 1997 under Yeltsin but was sacked by Putin in 2001, made Russian military dress look like that of the US military. And Anatoliy Serdyukov, who was also fired by Putin, ordered the winter uniforms to be tight and tight.
The author’s grandfather, Vasiliy Khudyakov, wearing a Soviet Army field combat uniform. The photo was taken in 1944 during World War II, in which he fought and survived. He sent the photo to the author’s grandmother during the war.
(Rebecca Koffler)
But the biggest uproar in the ranks broke out after the radical changes made by the famous fashion designer Valentin Yudashkin. Known for his theatrical looks, Yudashkin’s evening gowns are on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the California Fashion Museum in Los Angeles, and the Museum of Fashion and Textile in Paris.
He dressed Raisa, the wife of former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, and his work was featured in Elle and Vogue. Russian soldiers, however, did not appreciate the talent of the first post-Soviet couturier who claimed to have visited factories producing uniforms for the French, Italian and Israeli military to gain experience.
Service members complained that the uniform was made of a cheap synthetic material, making them too hot in the summer. His pockets were too small and could not fit a mobile phone or identification documents and other documents. Velcro patches fell off, buttons were gone within two weeks, seams tore, and color faded after a couple of washes. The uniform was also inappropriate for combat because it crackled with movement and melted in the fire.
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Volunteers receive military training in Rostov on December 6, 2022, amid ongoing Russian military action in Ukraine.
(Stringer/AFP via Getty Images)
Most importantly, the “designer” uniform was also too flimsy for Russian winters, because instead of natural fabrics, such as cotton, linen, and wool, it was made of new high-tech materials. Russian soldiers joked that at minus 15 degrees Celsius they started jumping to keep warm, and at minus 20, they couldn’t wait for the enemy to fire at them to avoid freezing to death. Putin’s current defense minister banned Yudashkin’s invention the moment he took office in 2012, leading the famous fashionista to blame Russian military authorities for “playing Dolce & Gabbana” instead of following his recommendations. of design.
The current Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, made a number of his own innovations. Since Shoigu has no military experience, he did not want to appear visually outranked by his army men. Shoigu introduced a limit of 10 on the number of medals worn on ceremonial military dress, allowing only those earned in combat. Until then, the Russian soldiers who participated in military parades in Red Square adorned themselves with several dozen medals arranged in four or five rows that did not fit on their chests, many of them civilian and therefore meaningless.
Russian military cadets take part in a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade in Saint Petersburg on April 28, 2022.
(Olga Maltseva/AFP via Getty Images)
The most radical change in the Russian uniform was introduced by Putin himself. In September 2020, by presidential decree, Putin banned the famous Russian military papakha headdress, worn by Russian, and formerly Soviet, generals and high-ranking offices.
Made of fur, skinned from 3-day-old baby lambs of a special breed called Karakul, these hats kept Russian generals warm because the fur bristles were thick, densely bonded, and water-repellent. But Putin and Shoigu opted to replace the $317 papakhas with much less expensive $79 caps made of rabbit fur.
Pro-Russian rebels are shown wearing papakha.
(Maxv Vetrov/AFP via Getty Images/File)
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Given that vain Russian warlords have prioritized style and copied the West over functionality in the post-Soviet uniform, it’s no wonder their forces are shaking to death when winter hits the battlefield.
While the troops are looking more elegant during famous Russian military parades, pleasing Putin and his lieutenants, they are also making attractive corpses.
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Source: news.google.com