Kathrine Frich
Military analysts say that Russian commanders are actively feeding false intelligence to Vladimir Putin.
When top bosses demand impossible results, subordinates often try to hide the bad news.
It is a classic problem in the corporate world. Now, a new report suggests the Russian president might be suffering from exactly this kind of deception on the battlefield.
A culture of lying
Military analysts suspect that Russian commanders are actively feeding false intelligence to Vladimir Putin. They desperately want to hide their slow progress in Ukraine.
“The Russian military systematically misinforms Putin about the state of the front line in part due to the pervasive culture of lying within the Russian armed forces,” the Institute for the Study of War stated.
The Russian leader recently ordered his troops to capture the entire Donetsk Oblast before the year ends. According to the Daily Express, this marks the 15th time Moscow has set a strict deadline to seize the region.
Setting impossible goals
Researchers think the stream of fake reports is making the president overly confident about his chances. The field commanders are telling him exactly what he wants to hear.
The ISW noted that the misinformation is “likely leading Putin to harden his perception that Russian forces can achieve his intended objectives in Donetsk Oblast by the end of 2026 and thus that he need not make any compromises in his aims.”
However, the actual conditions on the ground look very different. The Daily Express reported that Russian forces are only securing tiny scraps of land while losing massive numbers of soldiers.
Far from reality
British intelligence officials estimated in May that nearly half a million Russian troops have died in the conflict.
Because of this, the ISW claimed the president’s understanding of the war remains “divorced from the reality” of strong Ukrainian defences. Analysts project that Russia will not actually capture the whole Donetsk region until 2032.
This massive gap between perception and reality greatly complicates any potential peace talks. Over the weekend, US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff travelled to the region to meet with both sides.
Pausing the strikes
Russian foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov called the talks “constructive” and “frank”, while insisting Moscow was making “significant advances”, according to the Daily Express.
Following the Moscow meetings, the two American diplomats held talks in Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Both nations agreed to temporarily pause strikes on their respective capitals while the diplomats worked on a potential solution.
Sources: Daily Express, Institute for the Study of War
