Pripet Marshes
an extensive swamp surrounding the city of Pinsk, in western Russia, and extending up and down both banks of the Pripet river.
Officially this region is known as the Rokitno Marsh. In area these bogs are about half the size of the entire terri tory of Rumania. Only a comparatively small portion of the marsh had been explored before the outbreak of the World War, when it became the theater of important military operations between the Russian and German forces, especially after the capture of Brest-Litovsk by the Germans, on Aug. 27, 1915.
After their disastrous defeat at this time the Russian line retired and took its stand along the eastern side of the Pripet marshes. Along this front there was, of necessity, a large territory intervening between the Russian and German lines, invaded only by raiding parties and occasional patrols, moving in punts in summer, and on the ice in winter. It was only during the winter months that fighting of any magnitude could take place here, and then the contending forces would advance over the ice and engage PRISM in pitched battles. The region was, however, impassable to heavy artillery, so that neither side was able to break the deadlock created by the nature of the country. Across this swamp region the two belligerents continued facing each other until the end of the war on the Eastern Front.