Moscow is reeling from Ukraine’s bold counter-invasion of Russia, which caught many people off guard—including some of the Kremlin’s most prominent propagandists, whose lies are now blowing up in their faces. The blowback is so severe that even pundits whose unspoken job description includes the ability to lie with abandon are now calling on Russia’s mainstream media to start reporting “a bit more truth.”
During Monday’s broadcast of The Meeting Place on the NTV channel, Andrey Fedorov, a former Russian deputy foreign minister, didn’t mince his words, taking issue even with the deceptive title of the segment. He said: “For as long as we continue to live with headlines like ‘The Agony of the Regime,’ we will keep losing, because constant lies are coming from our side: about the weakness of the Ukrainian army and all that it’s lacking... Ukraine has approximately 20,000 men near the Belgorod region who can potentially participate.”
Host Andrey Norkin replied: “The most repugnant thing is that we overestimate our strength and underestimate the enemy. I think, this is very important, because people are certainly asking, ‘How could this have happened?’”
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Fedorov noted that Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate had allegedly named the Kursk operation ‘The Sinking of Kursk.’ There are inescapable parallels between the catastrophic loss of the Kursk submarine in 2000, in the first year of Vladimir Putin’s presidency, and the humiliating disaster that may mark the final chapter of his grip on power. Fedorov noted: “This is a combination of a military and a psychological attack. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to fully withstand it.”
Citing unnamed sources, Fedorov argued that Ukraine had been preparing its incursion into the Kursk region for approximately two and a half months and had put a lot of thought into it. He argued that the capture of Russia’s vital gas hub of Sudzha, in the Kursk region, was designed to force the Russian armed forces to destroy it. Fedorov was referring to Russia’s pattern of destroying cities and towns in order to capture or recapture them, which has been Moscow’s grisly habit, from Chechnya to Syria and Ukraine.
Fedorov added, “Deliveries of gas to Europe will be stopped because of Russia’s actions, not because of Ukraine. By the way, this will hit Hungary and Slovakia very hard.”
Political scientist Anton Khaschenko likewise urged more honesty in the media: “We really do have a lot of boasting, creating a false impression for the people that, tomorrow, all of this will come to an end. This shouldn’t be happening.”
A bit later, apparently disregarding Khaschenko’s sage advice, Norkin noted that the head of the Chechen Republic predicted that Ukraine’s counter-invasion would soon be repelled, optimistically stating, “Ramzan Kadyrov said this would take about three days.”
Instead, political editor Maxim Yusin urged Russians to abandon delusions and return to reality. He asked:, “What should we do to calm down? We should try a cynical, less emotional approach, even though it’s insanely difficult. We should look at Russia’s map and compare these lost territories to Russia’s enormous size.”
Yusin asserted that Russians should prepare for the worst possible outcome, evacuating all of their border regions and assuming that Ukrainians will be entrenched there for months to come. He added, “We should be ready for the scenario that we might have to sacrifice these territories—God willing, without the people—for a certain time period. Ukrainians might be entrenched there, perhaps for six months or so.”
Political analyst Viktor Olevich likewise urged some realism in Russian reporting. “The special military operation has been underway for two and a half years,” he said. “We should stop with these reports that they are in agony—including the segment here today claiming they are in agony—unfortunately, they are not in agony and it’s obvious. They are advancing!”
Yusin chimed in to assert, “We need a bit more truth!”
Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-installed official in a part of the southern Zaporizhzhia region that is temporarily under Moscow's control, immediately flouted this recommendation. With complete disregard for their real nationality, he described Ukrainians as “Southern Russian people,” who have been in a state of war for hundreds of years and must be taught to seek peace. He recounted numerous wars and conflicts that involved Ukrainians throughout history.
“Ukrainian Cossacks also took Moscow [back in 1610], together with the Poles,” Yusin noted bitterly.
“Let’s not go there,” Rogov replied.
