Russian Defence Ministry changes its information policy about Ukrainian counteroffensive – ISW

Analysts from the Institute for the Study of War have noted that the Russian Ministry of Defence has changed its information policy regarding the coverage of the counteroffensive actions by the Ukrainian Defence Forces.

Source: ISW

Details: The report notes that Ukrainian troops conducted counteroffensive operations on at least two areas of the front on 20 June.

Quote: "The Russian Ministry of Defence continues to respond to Ukrainian counteroffensive operations with a relatively high degree of rhetorical coherence, suggesting that the Defence Ministry has learned from its past mishandling of the information space during previous Ukrainian counteroffensives."

The report recalls that Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu addressed the Defence Ministry Collegium on 20 June and began his speech by discussing currentUkrainian counteroffensive operations in western Donetsk and Zaporizhia oblasts.

Also, military experts add that on 5 June, Shoigu stated that the counteroffensive began on 4 June, which coincides with ISW's previous assessment of the date of the start of the counteroffensive.

They add: "Shoigu additionally claimed that Ukrainian troops have launched 263 attacks on Russian positions since 4 June but denied that Ukrainian forces have made gains anywhere in the theatre, contrary to publicly available geolocated evidence of Ukrainian advances."

According to the ISW analysis, the fact that Shoigu publicly and relatively calmly discussed the counteroffensive (even despite the typical denial of Ukrainian successes by the Ministry of Defence) is a visible consequence of the inability of the Russian Ministry of Defence to prepare a unified response to Ukrainian counteroffensives in Kharkiv and Kherson oblasts in 2022; and the panic in the Russian information space, which arose as a result of this, indicates that the Russian information space has to some extent adapted and learned lessons from past moments of information collapse.

To quote the ISW’s Key Takeaways on 20 June:

• Ukrainian forces conducted counteroffensive operations in at least two sectors of the front on 20 June.
• The Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) continues to respond to Ukrainian counteroffensive operations with a relatively high degree of rhetorical coherence, suggesting that the MoD has learned from its past mishandling of the information space during previous Ukrainian counteroffensives.
• Russian forces conducted a missile and drone strike on Ukraine on 20 June.
• Russian forces continued a slightly intensified pace of ground attacks near Kreminna.
• Russian and Ukrainian forces continued ground attacks near Bakhmut.
• Russian forces continued ground attacks along the Avdiivka-Donetsk City line.
• Ukrainian forces continued counteroffensive operations on the administrative border between Zaporizhia and Donetsk oblasts.
• Ukrainian forces continued limited ground attacks in western Zaporizhia Oblast.
• The Kremlin continues to lower the requirements for Russian military service in an effort to increase recruitment.
• Russia aims to use the annual International Military-Technical Forum "Army-2023" to diversify and expand its defence industrial base (DIB).

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