Trump assumes why Putin couldn't take Kyiv "in five hours". Ukraine provides facts

According to U.S. President Donald Trump, Russian ruler Vladimir Putin failed to capture Kyiv in February 2022 because the nature of the terrain stood in the way of the Russian army.

In an interview with Bret Baier, a journalist close to the Republican Party, broadcasted from Doha, Qatar, Trump explained that the reason behind Putin's failure to take Kyiv was the “mud” the Russian tanks got stuck in. 

"I think Putin got tired of this whole thing. He is not looking good, but wants to look good. Don’t forget, this was supposed to end in one week. And if he didn't get stuck in the mud with his army tanks, he would have been in Kyiv in about five hours," Trump emphasized.

Trump suggested that Russian tanks were blocked by “mud,” and that’s why they couldn’t make it to Kyiv.

Why Russia didn’t capture Kyiv at the start of the full-scale invasion. Key reasons

The "mud" referred to by Trump was created artificially in the valley of the Irpin River, which flows west of the Ukrainian capital. However, it was not immediately effective and only played a role when combined with the heroism and self-sacrifice of Ukrainian soldiers and officers, volunteers, partisans, and strategic miscalculations made by Russian command. The decisive factor, however, was the immense strength and patriotism of the Ukrainian people.

On February 24, 2022, Ukrainian forces did not allow Russian Il-76 military transport aircraft, carrying the main strike forces, to land at airports around Kyiv—at Hostomel and Vasylkiv. Although the Russian helicopter assault initially captured the Hostomel airport, the Ukrainians tied them up there with battles, damaged, and took control of the runway under artillery fire. This allowed the Ukrainian General Staff to buy time and set up full-scale defenses around the capital.

At Vasylkiv, the Russians couldn’t even land their helicopters, they only dropped paratroopers, who were immediately destroyed on the ground.

Once the Russian ground columns reached the outskirts of Kyiv, they were already expected.

On February 25, Ukrainian forces completely burned and destroyed a column of Ural vehicles from the Krasnoyarsk OMON, which was heading to establish an occupation regime in Kyiv. Later that day, the Ukrainian General Staff ordered the detonation of a dam in Kozarovichi, which created the "mud" Trump mentioned. At the same time, they destroyed all the car bridges over the Irpin River up to the village of Bilohorodka near Boyarka.

More facts:

The “mud” did have an effect on the Russian armored vehicles, but it would have been irrelevant if Ukrainian troops hadn’t stood up to defend Kyiv in the forests near Moshchun, Horenka, and Mostyshche, and destroyed the Russian forces stuck in the “mud” from the opposite bank.

Moreover, the Russians spent a month fighting for the Irpin-Bucha-Hostomel urban agglomeration but could not fully take it. Ukrainian Territorial Defense fighters who resisted in Irpin refused to withdraw, even when commanded to do so from Kyiv.

The stretched Russian columns became easy targets for Ukrainian special forces and partisans, especially for their fuel and munitions.

Putin, as of over three years later, still hasn’t managed to take cities such as Chernihiv, Sumy, and Kharkiv. He succeeded in surrounding them in the spring of 2022, but could not capture them (Kyiv, meanwhile, was partially encircled).

Not a single major Ukrainian city surrendered in a day. The heroic battle for Mariupol lasted 86 days, which significantly delayed Russian efforts to take Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine, allowing Ukrainian forces to mobilize and establish a steady flow of military assistance from Western countries.