What Russians see: Ukraine’s “demilitarization” during its counter-offensive.
We are going to be regularly exposing how Russia is selling the war at home, while TV and other propaganda outlets are creating a distorted reality of what is happening and who is responsible. Today we look at how Russia describes Ukraine’s counter-offensive to recapture occupied land.
In the version of the war in Ukraine running on Russian state media, the Ukrainian military has been completely outdone.
Smashing supercuts on the battlefield show victory after victory for Russian troops over Ukraine’s armed forces. Dead Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield mingle with explosions seen through blurry night vision. Experts boast of images of Western-made tanks burning.
This is how the Russian state media portrayed the invasion from the start: a sustained streak of victories, downplaying setbacks and losses. Now, not only are state-run programs claiming that Ukraine is not gaining ground, they are also claiming that Russia achieved one of its original objectives of the invasion: the demilitarization of Ukraine.
These clips from state television, shot before the Moscow mercenary march and Vladimir V. Putin’s accusation of treason against a former ally, show how Russian state media claims Ukraine is losing its ability to fight back – despite receiving dozens of tanks and armored personnel carriers. vehicles, extensive training for its troops, and billions of dollars in aid from the United States and Europe.
Mr Putin made the argument during a meeting with influential military bloggers and war correspondents, saying US-made Bradley vehicles and German-made Leopard tanks “burn nicely”.
Videos and photos verified by The New York Times show that several Bradley fighting vehicles and German Leopard tanks were abandoned by Ukrainian forces or destroyed by Russian forces, but the Ukrainian tank crews generally survived and many of the damaged vehicles can be recovered. salvaged and repaired, US and Ukrainian officials say.
But Mr Putin’s remarks were eventually rebroadcast on the leading political show “News of the Week”, which said the world was “looking at images of burnt Western equipment” and praised Mr Putin for his candor in his address to the nationalist media figures.
“In all his appearances, Putin instilled confidence and gave details of Russia’s actions, demonstrating that he knows the facts,” said the host, Dmitri Kiselyov.
A day later, Putin’s spokesman Dmitri S. Peskov elaborated on the allegation in his own statement to reporters. “Ukraine was heavily militarized when the special operation began. And, as Putin said yesterday, one of the goals was the demilitarization of Ukraine. he said. “In fact, this target has largely been met, as Ukraine is using less and less of its own weapons and is using more and more weapon systems supplied by Western countries.”
And in the aftermath of the mercenary mutiny, like Mr. Putin tried again to project an image of controlhe delivered a speech that returned to these talking points, claiming that Ukraine had lost dozens of tanks and more than 100 armored vehicles.
Sarah Kerr And Natalie Reneau production contributed.