Alexander Kovalenko: This Is A Disgrace And Yet Another Slap In The Face For Putin

A military expert explained why the Kremlin is fabricating stories about the “capture” of Ukrainian cities.

Putin, citing reports from the Russian military command, primarily from the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Federation Valery Gerasimov, announced the alleged capture of Svyatogorsk. However, as early as September 7, the commander of the Third Army Corps of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Brigadier General Andriy Biletsky, recorded a video right from the city center, confirming that it remains under Ukrainian control.

Why, despite the large number of Z-war correspondents who themselves refute the “victory” reports from the Russian command, is Putin increasingly announcing the capture of cities that the Russian army doesn’t even come close to controlling?

The website Charter97.org posed this question to Ukrainian military and political analyst Oleksandr Kovalenko of the “Information Resistance” group:

— Putin simply has no other choice but to generate “information fast food” for domestic consumption—these “victory” reports. Moreover, there was a specific reason why this statement was made on September 1. Essentially, it was preparation—a sort of warm-up—for the arrival of Steve Whitcoff and Jared Kushner. Putin wanted to show the American delegation that things are actually going quite well for Russia on the battlefield.

And here’s another very important point. We already have an example of the so-called “capture” of Kupyansk. Last October, Colonel General Sergey Kuzovlev reported that Kupyansk was under the full control of Russian forces. This was stated by Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov and Valery Gerasimov, and was ultimately repeated by Putin himself. As early as December, he awarded Kuzovlev the Hero of the Russian Federation star.

But Kupyansk remains under Ukrainian control, just as it always has. Moreover, the Ukrainian Defense Forces are currently cutting off the enemy’s only routes of infiltration into the city. They are expanding their zone of control in the Dvurechnaya and Zapadny districts, on the right bank of the Oskol River. And so, in fact, while there may have been at least some signs of infiltration in Kupyansk, Svyatogorsk is located more than ten kilometers from the line of contact. Considering that the Ukrainian Defense Forces—primarily the Third Army Corps—are currently conducting counterattacks there and pushing the enemy back, this distance has increased even further.

There were no infiltrations into Svyatogorsk at all. Not only was there no fighting there, but there weren’t even any attempts at infiltration. The commander of the Third Army Corps, General Andriy Biletsky, personally arrived in the city to demonstrate that it is fully under the control of Ukrainian troops. This is a disgrace and yet another slap in the face. You could say that Biletsky slapped Putin in the face.
But for Putin, that’s not so important. He has long since turned into a generator of fake news, creating a kind of parallel reality for those Russians who continue to believe him. He is trying to impose this parallel reality on certain Western media outlets as well—on Western consumers of this “information fast food.” Putin is trying to create the appearance that everything is going well for him. He understands perfectly well that this is not the case. He knows full well that Svyatogorsk is not under the control of Russian troops. He knows full well that the Russian army does not fully control Kupyansk. Yet these and many other cities and locations are listed in victory reports.

Take Lyman, for example. In June, Putin claimed that only 100 out of 11,000 houses in the city remained to be captured. But now it’s already early September. What about Lyman? What’s the situation there? It’s exactly the same as it was. There are no Russians in the city. They’re trying to infiltrate Lyman. At least there are such attempts, but they’re neutralized very quickly. And once the salient north of Lyman is completely cut off and Ukrainian troops reach the Zherebets River, the situation for the Russians will become significantly more complicated.

So I can say that we will, of course, continue to hear such disinformation. Putin will keep creating this parallel reality. But what he’s creating has absolutely nothing to do with the actual situation on the battlefield.

— Reports have emerged that the Ukrainian Defense Forces have eliminated the Russian salient near Lyman, pushing the occupiers back both from Svyatogorsk—which Putin had claimed to have “captured”—and from Lyman itself. What is currently happening on this section of the front, and what have Ukrainian troops managed to achieve during the counteroffensive?

— As of today, I haven’t seen this information officially published with all the coordinates. It certainly exists, but there are no official details yet. It’s mainly intelligence analysts who are writing about this. They are the ones reporting these results.

Generally speaking, we’re talking about a large salient along the right bank of the Zherebets River and the left bank of the Nitrus River. Between these two rivers, north of the Liman, an enemy salient had formed, looming over the city. The Ukrainian Defense Forces carried out an operation to cut off this salient. Primarily in the Redkodub–Katerynivka–Novoye triangle, as well as further south, in the Kolodezei area. There have been some successes. In certain areas, the Defense Forces have reached the right bank of the Zherebets. Preliminary reports indicate that some Russian units have even been surrounded. This is also being reported by Russian so-called “Z-correspondents.”

If this information is fully confirmed, then we can say that a successful tactical counteroffensive operation has been carried out in this sector. Specifically, on a tactical scale. We are talking about an area of nearly 200 square kilometers. This is the most successful counteroffensive in this specific zone since 2022.

Overall, this is the territory through which Russian troops could advance toward Svyatogorsk. If the information is officially confirmed, specifying the liberated settlements and territories, we can say that the enemy has been pushed even further back from Svyatogorsk.

You can support the website Charter97.org

MULTI-CURRENCY ACCOUNT FOR ASSISTANCE:

Bank's name: Bank Millennium S.A.
Address: ul. Stanislawa Zaryna, 2A, 02-593, Warszawa
IBAN: PL97116022020000000216711123
SWIFT: BIGBPLPW
Name of the account holder: Fundacja “KARTA ‘97”
Purpose/title of payment: Donation for statuary aims

You can contact us by the e-mail [email protected]