Putin confronts the mud of Ukraine
CNN
When the snow melts in the spring, fields can get so muddy in the plains of Eastern Europe that Russians have a word for it: Rasputitsa, or "the season of bad roads." Analysts believe that if Putin launches an invasion of Ukraine, it will come before the spring thaw.
Mud hindered Napoleon's 1812 invasion of Russia and Hitler's 1941 blitzkrieg against the Soviet Union, and it could be one of many factors now in the timing of any possible Russian move into Ukraine. If Russian President Vladimir Putin orders his forces to invade, analysts believe it would come before the spring thaw. "The best time to do it is winter because it's going to be a mechanized advance and the mechanized divisions need hard frozen ground," said Tim Marshall.
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