Russian media outlets are trying hard to reassure the public as the Ukrainian incursion into the Kursk region continues.
These media outlets claim that Ukrainian attacks are being thwarted one after another, and that the authorities are evacuating civilians and offering compensation to those affected.
“Days under fire, but leaving no one behind. This is how we help people”: that was the opening of the main news programme on state television’s Channel One.
He went on to say: “It is obvious that the Ukrainian attack has collapsed, “the situation is under control!”.
Another major Kremlin-run TV channel, Rossiya 1, claims that Ukraine has sent its best army units “to be slaughtered in the Kursk region.”
“They will be physically incapable of moving forward any further,” they say to reassure their audience. The pro-government newspaper News He also appears defiant, declaring: “They will not defeat us”.
Kremlin-controlled media often portray Ukraine as a country that does not have a serious army. Its troops are often described as “militants,” “terrorists,” or “forces of the Kiev regime.”
“Like the Germans”
Again and again, the Russian media resort to their tried-and-true trick of invoking the spirit of Great Patriotic Warthe Soviet battle against Nazism in 1941 after the Soviet Union was attacked by Germany despite both countries having signed a non-aggression pact in 1939, at the beginning of World War II.
This war and the Soviet Union victory over Germany remain a central element of the current state patriotic narrative. Unfounded accusations against Ukraine of being associated with Nazism are common in the media.
An article from the main Russian tabloid, Komsomolskaya Pravdasays Ukrainian forces are “like the Germans,” while state television calls them “neo-Nazis.”
But there is one question that the Kremlin’s media machine does not want to discuss: after the surprise incursion that began last week,What are Ukrainian troops doing in the Kursk region?And also, could the incursion have something to do with what Russia is doing inside Ukraine?
The Russian story
Of course, not everyone believes the optimistic information on state television.
A local resident, a woman from the Kursk region, tells the newspaper Kommersant: “We don’t understand why They don’t tell us the truth. The enemy is on our territory, enemy tanks are on our land. This is war.”
The correspondent of Kommersant He was concerned about the woman after she openly made such a comment. He believes that such comments could bring the woman into trouble with the Russian security services.
Last week’s surprise attack has prompted Russian authorities to declare a state of emergency in the areaUkraine says its forces are continuing to advance into Russian territory in several directions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said troops had advanced 1-2 km further into Kursk since Wednesday, and had also captured 100 Russian soldiers.
But Russia claims it has succeeded stop progress.
Ukrainian commander says ‘military office has been set up on occupied territory’
Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky says a “military command” has been created in the Russian areas controlled by Ukraine.
In a video posted on social media, he is seen telling a meeting chaired by President Zelensky: “In order to maintain law and order and meet the immediate needs of the population, a military command has been created in the controlled territories.” [por Ucrania]. Major General Moskalyov has been appointed to lead it.”
Syrsky also states that Ukrainian troops control 1,150 km2 of territory, including 82 settlements.
“Overall, the situation is under control,” he told Zelensky.
For Vladimir Putin, the Kursk raid is a slap in the face.
When launching his “special military operation”urged Ukrainians to surrender and the West to stay out.
At the beginning of the invasion, in February 2022, when Russian forces were on the outskirts of kyiv, their media expected the Ukrainian capital to fall within days.
Two and a half years later, His army is struggling to prevent the Ukrainian army from advancing further into Russia.
Seeking to stem the public relations damage caused by the Kursk incursion, President Putin called a televised meeting with officials, at which he began by expressing confidence that the invaders would be crushed and that all the objectives of the “special military operation” had been achieved.
But the mood became more complicated when the acting governor of Kursk, Alexei Smirnov, appeared on the screen. As he began to talk about the depth of Ukrainian forces in his region, he was interrupted by the president.
Leave that to the military, he said, and ordered the governor to report on how things are going. “helping people”.
Vladimir Putin appeared visibly upset, his lips pursed as Smirnov spoke of the thousands of Russian citizens left in villages occupied by Ukrainian forces.
“We don’t know anything about their fate,” he complained.
But will the shame of Kursk diminish support for the war among Russians?
This may have been one of Ukraine’s goals, but State-controlled media are trying hard to present this as confirmation that Ukraine is aggressive towards Russia. and that Vladimir Putin has been right all along.
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