(Near Bakhmout) ‘The hardest part is getting up the hill’: Hands glued to the wheel of a big truck, Private Grygorii drives through the wide mud ruts cut across the fields, in eastern Ukraine.
On the climb, the gasoline V8 engine roars, the wheels slip a little then grip again and the 6X6 truck continues its winding path at a rhythm of swerves when it is necessary to quickly leave a tricky rut for another, less deep or less slippery. .
“I’ve been driving this truck for six months. The ZIL-131, with three driven axles, saves us every time” from the mud, exclaims Grygoriï, 39, after 25 minutes of rough driving through fields to stop near a position of artillery of his unit, up to which he carries personnel and ammunition.
At certain places on the course, the black tracks of large tires or tracks draw a succession of close parallel lines, over a width of about ten meters.
Trenches almost like bathtubs where soldiers wade at mid-calf, thick layer of earth stuck to the soles, pick-ups, armored vehicles and even sometimes tanks destroyed by strikes after getting stuck in the mud: videos related to rain and mud have flourished on social media in recent weeks.
After a few days of dry weather, rain returned to Donbass on Sunday, particularly near Bakhmout, where fighting has been raging for months between Ukrainian forces defending the city and Russian forces trying to encircle and take it. .
“Two weeks ago we only had two paths: through the mud… or through the mud,” sums up the driver of a Ukrainian T-64 tank, waiting for orders north of Bakhmout.
Comparing Soviet tank models, the soldier, who does not wish to be named, believes that the T-64 “has no problem rolling in the mud, its tracks have been designed in such a way that it stops quite rarely. The T-72 is the worst for mud, like the T-90,” he says as a specialist.
Here the roads are often covered with the famous Ukrainian black earth, among the most fertile in the world, because it is very rich in humus.
Brought back from the fields or the embankments by the tracks of armored vehicles, it quickly turns into greasy mud in the rain.
“Both sides are waiting for the weather to improve,” said Ruslan, the commander of the artillery unit to which Grygoriya the driver belongs.
“Any massive offensive is now impossible or at least very problematic. Time is on the side of those who defend,” he warns.
If combat units suffer from mud, it can also slow the evacuation of wounded.
“Of course it’s a problem, but we have always found a suitable vehicle for a seriously injured soldier to be transported to the hospital,” said a manager of a first aid center in a small village located on the condition of anonymity. near the front line.
Mildly injured or concussed soldiers are kept in this center for a few hours, because “they can wait”, he explains.
“For more serious cases, we transport them with the vehicles we have here […] even if we cannot move quickly. You see, there are holes everywhere! “, adds the carer, showing that day the track covered with slippery and thick mud, dug with ruts, in front of the care center.
For a lieutenant of an infantry unit met near Bakhmout, who also wished to remain anonymous, the rain “is a big problem! Our guys stay in the trenches, in the mud, and they have to hold the post.”
But an improvement in the weather will not necessarily make life easier for the Ukrainians who foresee a Russian offensive.
“Tracked vehicles are also blocked now, both from our (Ukrainian) side and their (Russian) side. If the weather becomes dry and remains dry for 3-4 weeks, the enemy will attack. Surely there will be a large-scale attack,” he predicted.
