Russian commanders 'likely lying to Putin' as war disaster looms

Russian military leaders have been accused of misleading Vladimir Putin regarding the true scope of their territorial gains in northern Ukraine.

A recent analysis from the Institute for the Study of War suggested the Russian Northern Grouping of Forces and senior military leadership “are likely” misrepresenting the reality of the four-year conflict. This appears designed to promote the impression that Russia is making significant progress throughout Ukraine, even though much of the front line has remained relatively static for two years, the research organization contended.

It stated Russian commanders are employing a “variety of informational tools to support their efforts to aggrandize the extent of Russia’s advances.” Artificially generated footage, for instance, has been deployed to incorrectly depict Russian forces capturing the small village of Bilyi Kolodyaz in the Kharkiv region, reports Daily Express UK.

In another case, both the Russian Northern Grouping of Forces and the Ministry of Defence touted the capture of the Mohrytsya settlement as a “strategic success,” though Ukraine maintained this was part of a disinformation campaign.

The ISW wrote: “Russian dismounted infantry continue conducting infiltration missions across the Northern Grouping of Forces’ area of responsibility, and servicemembers continue filming videos and using AI to alter or generate footage of Russian soldiers holding flags in settlements into which Russian forces may have only infiltrated to falsely claim them as seized.”

“Small Russian redeployments below the regimental echelon for defensive operations, small and rare mechanized assaults, infiltration missions, flag-raising videos, and AI-altered footage notably do not replace actual advances or constitute doctrinal control of terrain.”

“The Kremlin is using these exaggerated claims of advance as part of its ongoing cognitive warfare effort to falsely portray Russian forces as advancing across the battlefield in order to convince Ukraine’s partners to abandon their support.”

It explained that Ukrainian forces are also counterattacking in several northern zones, directly undermining Moscow’s assertions.

Ukrainian troops have liberated the town of Odradne and conducted a mechanized assault northeast of Khatne, while also conducting counterattacks near Nova Sich, Mohrytsya, Ivolzhanske, and Pysarivka.

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