ISW analyses how Russia distorts information about Ukrainian counteroffensive

Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) have noticed that Russia's pro-military space has joined the spread of Kremlin narratives about the supposedly failed Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Source: ISW

Details: The analysts noted that Russia's so-called ultranationalist information space appears to be uniting in promoting Kremlin narratives aimed at portraying the Ukrainian counteroffensive as a failure, increasingly exaggerating Ukrainian losses and downplaying Russian losses and challenges.

So-called Russian military bloggers are increasingly portraying Ukrainian counteroffensive operations as a series of failed attacks along the entire contact line.

The analysts cited the fact that on 29 July, Russian military bloggers shared a video supposedly showing a single Russian tank defeating an entire Ukrainian company of armoured vehicles.

As it turned out, the footage was dated 7 June and showed Russian artillery units striking a Ukrainian convoy.

The experts suggest this manipulation indicates that Russian sources are deliberately spreading old footage to support the Kremlin's narrative.

Quote: "The Kremlin’s ability to establish a more cohesive narrative about the war within the Russian information space remains uncertain, and subsequent Russian failures or significant Ukrainian successes could disrupt the Kremlin’s progress in this effort."

More details: At the same time, the analysts noted that Ukrainian troops conducted counter-offensive operations in at least three areas of the front and advanced in some areas on 29 July.

Ukrainian defenders also struck Russian military and logistics facilities in occupied Crimea on 28 and 29 July.

To quote the ISW's Key Takeaways on 29 July:

• Segments of the Russian pro-war ultranationalist information space appear to be coalescing around a Kremlin narrative effort to portray the Ukrainian counter-offensive as a failure, increasingly overstating Ukrainian losses and writing less about Russia's losses and challenges than they had been.
• The Kremlin’s ability to establish a more cohesive narrative about the war within the Russian information space remains uncertain, and subsequent Russian failures or significant Ukrainian successes could disrupt the Kremlin’s progress in this effort.
• Ukrainian forces conducted counter-offensive operations on at least three sectors of the front and advanced in some areas on 29 July.
• Ukrainian forces likely targeted Russian military and logistics assets in occupied Crimea on 28 and 29 July.
• Russian forces conducted a missile strike on the city of Dnipro, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast on the evening of 28 July.
• Russian forces conducted offensive operations along the Svatove-Kreminna line and the Avdiivka-Donetsk line and made claimed advances along the Svatove-Kreminna line.
• Ukrainian forces conducted offensive operations along the Svatove-Kreminna line, around Bakhmut and along the Avdiivka-Donetsk line and advanced around Bakhmut.
• Ukrainian forces conducted offensive operations along the western Donetsk-eastern Zaporizhzhia Oblast border area and south of Orikhiv and advanced along the western Donetsk-eastern Zaporizhzhia Oblast border area.
• Russian forces conducted offensive operations along the western Donetsk-eastern Zaporizhzhia Oblast border area and south of Orikhiv but did not make confirmed or claimed advances.
• A Ukrainian report indicates that Russian occupation authorities continue mobilisation efforts in occupied Ukraine to replenish losses from combat casualties.
• Russian authorities continue to forcibly deport Ukrainian children in occupied Ukraine to Russia under the guise of rest and rehabilitation programs. 

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