Rasputitsa

In conjunction with the general conditions of winter, rasputitsa has been credited with encumbering the military campaigns of Napoleonic France in 1812 and Nazi Germany during Operation Barbarossa, as well as all belligerents in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian term бездоріжжя, bezdorizhzhia, 'roadlessness' (pronunciationⓘ) usually refers to spring, and occasionally to autumn, when rain and/or melting snow on unpaved roads, tracks, paths, or any poorly-drained off-road area turns the route into impassable deep mud.

[7] These conditions in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine are caused by high moisture storage capacity of black clay soils but not limited solely to the area of chernozem found in the region and works as a sponge.

[8] Autumn thawing occurs when the average daily air temperature drops to +5°C, which reduces the evaporation of moisture, and the frequency of rains saturating the upper soil layer increases.

[10] Climate change in Russia and warmer winters in the Russian Arctic are a big disadvantage: rasputitsa lasted previously for 2–3 weeks, and now it reaches two months, as an inhabitant of an island near Archangelsk said in an interview.