Trump said that Russian tanks became stuck near Kyiv in 2022 because of the heaviest rain in 10 years
Kyiv • UNN
Donald Trump said that rain turned the fields into mud and halted Russian tanks near Kyiv in 2022. He provided no evidence of record rainfall.
US President Donald Trump said that the Russian army was unable to quickly capture Kyiv at the beginning of the full-scale invasion because of heavy rain, which allegedly turned Ukrainian fields into a swamp. The US leader voiced this version of events during a press conference while answering journalists’ questions, UNN reports.
Details
According to Trump, on the night before the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, what was allegedly the heaviest rain in the past 10 years fell. As a result, the soil became so waterlogged that Russian armored vehicles began getting stuck while advancing toward the Ukrainian capital.
The US president also expressed the belief that Russian troops should have captured Kyiv without much difficulty. However, in his version of events, the implementation of this plan was prevented not only by weather conditions but also by mistakes made by the Russian command.
Trump blamed a Russian general for the failed offensive
In particular, Trump criticized the decision of one of the Russian generals who, according to him, ordered tank units to leave the highway and move across the fields.
The US leader called this general "stupid," claiming that his decision was precisely what led to Russian armored vehicles becoming stuck in the waterlogged soil.
At the same time, Trump provided no evidence that a record amount of precipitation for the past 10 years had actually fallen in Ukraine on the eve of the invasion. He also did not specify which Russian general he meant.
At the beginning of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Russian troops attempted to capture Kyiv, but Ukraine’s Defense Forces thwarted the offensive. In late March and early April, the Russian army withdrew from Ukraine’s northern regions.