In helicopter with laser pointer: Russian Defence Ministry shows Shoigu supposedly in Ukraine
The Russian Ministry of Defence has posted a video of a supposed visit by Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu to the war zone in Ukraine.
Source: Russian Ministry of Defence on Telegram
Quote from Ministry: "The Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation inspected the forward control point of the Centre group of troops in the area of the special operation [the official Russian name for the war against Ukraine – ed.]".
Details: Shoigu was debriefed by the group's commander, Lieutenant General Andrey Mordvichev, as well as commanders and staff officers, and thanked the command and personnel of the group of troops "for conducting successful offensive actions on the Krasnyi Lyman front and seizing more favourable positions".
Shoigu was supposedly shown "one of the many armoured vehicles captured in battle from the enemy", a Swedish CV-90 infantry fighting vehicle.
Mordvichev reportedly claimed to Shoigu that the Western equipment supplied to Kyiv has many "shortcomings", lacking spare parts, tools and additional accessories, and having a low rate of fire. The occupiers also claim these vehicles lack a guided weapon system and have low survivability due to its high silhouette.
It is unclear from the published video where exactly Shoigu was located.
Why it is important: Against the backdrop of the Ukrainian counter-offensive, Russia is trying to demonstrate in every possible way the alleged permanent presence of its military leadership at the front. In particular, the occupiers recently claimed that Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces had visited the temporarily occupied territory of Zaporizhzhia Oblast in Ukraine. However, the video reports from the Russian Ministry of Defence never show where its leaders were actually located.
Moreover, the ministry has been repeatedly caught lying before.
For example, on 18 December 2022, the Russian Ministry of Defence published a video where Shoigu supposedly flew over military positions in a helicopter. But later it turned out that Shoigu was actually about 80 kilometres from the front line, in temporarily occupied Crimea.
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