Debunking Trump's account of Russia's failed bid to seize Kyiv

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Debunking Trump's account of Russia's failed bid to seize Kyiv  The US President says Russian troops would have captured the Ukrainian capital in hours in February 2022 had troops not got 'stuck in the mud'. War analysts tell a different story.  READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/08/28/debunking-trumps-account-of-russias-failed-bid-to-seize-kyiv  Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages

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00:00Fact-checking Trump's claim about why Russia failed to capture Kyiv.

00:07Donald Trump has claimed to know why Russian troops failed to capture Kyiv

00:12during the first days of their invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

00:17They would have been in Kyiv in four hours, going down the highway,

00:23but a Russian general made a brilliant decision to go through the farmland instead.

00:27We fact-checked Trump's claims by analysing expert accounts of what really happened

00:33during the first days of Russia's invasion in February 2022.

00:37We found that Russia's attempts to seize Kyiv were thwarted by a combination of Ukraine's military strategy

00:44and logistical and tactical errors on the Russian side.

00:48The mud in the valley of the Irpin River west of Kyiv did obstruct the movement of tanks,

00:54but alone would not have obstructed the Russian offensive.

00:57According to the Institute for the Study of War,

00:59determined and well-organized Ukrainian resistance around Kyiv

01:03played an important role in preventing the Russian military from advancing with speed and success.

01:10Meanwhile, Russian forces did use highways to reach the Ukrainian capital.

01:15According to an analysis by experts at the Modern War Institute,

01:19Russia's forces coming from the border with Belarus covered 150 kilometers of open road

01:25to reach Kyiv's outskirts during the first phase of the Battle of Kyiv in late February.

01:31The experts add that Russians used old maps,

01:34with Ukrainians also removing or painting over as many road signs as they could

01:39to deviate the Russian offensive.

01:41Russia's failure to capture Kyiv was also largely due to what happened in the air,

01:46particularly as Russia failed to gain control of the Hostomel airport 10 kilometers north of Kyiv.

01:51These expert analyses clearly contradict Trump's account of events.

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