High-speed winter tyre, or “European winter”
Many makers now produce high-speed winter tyres. As a rule they have a high speed rating and a strongly “sporty” tread pattern, and also a somewhat lower tread block height: 6-7 mm. This kind of tyre is always directional. Tyres like these are designed purely for dry, cleared roads, and deep slush, a crust of ice or snow can become a serious obstacle for them.
That said, as a rule this kind of tyre has fairly good aquaplaning resistance, so hitting “porridge” at high speed will most likely pass without consequences, but, say, parking on an uncleared, snow-covered car park, especially if you have an automatic gearbox, will most likely cause a fair amount of trouble. Driving on a dry road on a tyre like this, though, is pure pleasure: you will most likely not hear the tyre inside the cabin, and cornering stability and braking distance will be about as close to a good summer tyre as you can get.
Sadly, the vast majority of cities and roads in Ukraine are not yet ready for motorists to switch over completely to the European winter tyre, so it tends to be people whose winter driving mostly happens on big-city main roads, international routes and abroad who “shoe” their cars in tyres like these.