In this episode of La Loupe, Xavier Yvon analyzes the consequences of winter on the war in Ukraine with Paul Véronique, journalist for the Monde service of L’Express, and Yohann Michel, researcher on defense issues at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
Listen to this episode and subscribe to La Loupe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Deezer, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict and Amazon Music.
The team: Xavier Yvon (presentation), Charlotte Baris (writing), Mathias Penguilly (editing), Jules Krot (directing) and Marion Galard (work-study).
Music and dressing: Emmanuel Herschon/Studio Torrent
Picture credits: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images/AFP
Logo: Anne-Laure Chapelain/Benjamin Chazal
How to listen to a podcast? Follow the leader.
Xavier Yvon: In La Loupe, you are regularly told about meteorological phenomena. Whether it’s when we talk about global warming, the agriculture of tomorrow or even our electricity bills. But at the beginning of October, we gave you a weather update to talk this time about the war in Ukraine. Clément Daniez, from the World service of L’Express, had come to explain to us what raspoutitsa is, a very well-known phenomenon in certain countries of Eastern Europe:
Clement Daniez “Raspoutitsa is literally ‘bad road weather’. It’s when the weather turns the ground into sticky mud.”
Xavier Yvon : The rasputitsa therefore had consequences on the battlefield in the fall, both for the Russians and the Ukrainians:
Clement Daniez : “It limits the possible maneuvers with tanks, armored vehicles which are vehicles that sometimes weigh several tens of tons and more generally any heavy equipment.”
Xavier Yvon : Autumn is now coming to an end, and the sticky mud of the raspoutitsa is gradually turning into ground frozen by winter… The weather will therefore have new repercussions on the ground. As the cold descends on Ukraine, what will be the strategies of the two camps, and what will be the impact on the rest of the conflict? These are the questions we are looking at today.
For further
PODCAST. War in Ukraine: what is “rasputitsa”? The Express explains everything
War in Ukraine: donations, partnerships, missiles… The West increases aid before winter
Bernard Lecomte: “Putin wants to freeze the conflict because he has time with him”
War in Ukraine: nearly a billion euros in donations promised to kyiv at the Paris conference