Kremlin steps up efforts to portray Ukraine's counteroffensive as failed operation – ISW

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in its daily report says the Kremlin and Russian propaganda media have stepped up efforts to portray the Ukrainian counteroffensive as a failed operation.

Source: the ISW

Details: The ISW noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin said on 27 July that recently, Russian troops destroyed 39 armoured combat vehicles out of 50 that Ukrainian troops used for intensive assaults on the Zaporizhzhia front. Putin added that Russian forces also killed 60 percent of Ukrainian soldiers who carried out these assaults, and 40% of the Ukrainian fighter pilots operating in that area.

The ISW pointed out that Putin has previously said Russian forces destroyed an immense amount of equipment during Ukraine’s counteroffensive actions, although the figures of Ukraine’s attacks that he voiced out in recent days shows he is exaggerating the likely Ukrainian losses.

The ISW noted Russian milbloggers also claim that Russian troops destroyed dozens of Ukrainian armoured combat vehicles and celebrate the alleged losses as evidence of stalling Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Quote from ISW: "The Kremlin’s and the Russian information space’s framing of the Ukrainian counteroffensive notably violates a reported Kremlin manual instructing Russian media not to downplay the potential for successful Ukrainian counteroffensive operations.

The intensifying portrayal of the Ukrainian counteroffensive as a failed effort suggests that the Kremlin’s policy on the coverage of the war is to bolster efforts to promote itself as an effective manager of the war effort." 

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