The Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Valery Gerasimov, recently made a report claiming that the Ukrainian city of Dobropillya has allegedly been completely cleared by the “Center” group forces. Dictator Putin immediately rushed to call this news an event that opens a real path for the Russian army to reach the administrative borders of the Donetsk region, although such statements absolutely do not correspond to the objective reality.
As the main evidence, the Russian command presented a video with a changing flag supposedly installed in the center of the town. However, in the published footage, attentive observers noticed clear signs of digital content generation using artificial intelligence.
This conclusion is confirmed by the completely unnatural position of the Russian tricolor in the hands of a soldier, as the flagpole first lies horizontally at a strange angle to the white stripe and then suddenly aligns vertically near the red part, after which it makes a strange jump back.
The mentioned situation is by no means an isolated case where Kremlin leadership presents desires as reality against the background of reports on the real situation on the front.
Well-known Z-blogger Anatoly Radov succinctly characterized the events, commenting on the grandiose report with the phrase that he simply has no comments. The military Telegram channel “Military Informer,” referencing current OSINT data, emphasized that even with the possible control over part of the settlement, it is premature to talk about the full liberation of Dobropillya.
Regular statements by the military command about ephemeral victories like the capture of Dobropillya or the destruction of non-existent enemy groups increasingly diverge from the situation on the ground.
A turning point in understanding the true situation was the August meeting of CIA Director Ratcliffe with FSB Head Bortnikov, after which an alternative assessment of the special military operation reached Putin. The Russian leader was presented with data on the extremely slow advancement of troops, the colossal cost of every meter of territory gained, and the complete lack of a quick military breakthrough.
The stated information differs so radically from regular reports by the General Staff that it now requires large-scale audits of key reports from the Ministry of Defense. Such audits will inevitably uncover a grand deception in the spirit of Konashenko-style misinformation, where virtual victories by artificial intelligence proved more important than actual successes on the battlefield. The command of the “Center” group effectively replaced real combat achievements with work in graphic editors, leading to open mockery even among the most reckless Z-bloggers.
Russian citizens are gradually beginning to realize the scale of systemic disaster, which naturally leads to a rapid decline in the ruling party’s rating below the critical mark of 30%. The recent elections showed a catastrophic loss of trust in the institutions of state administration, as people are tired of the endless continuation of hostilities.
State propaganda openly calls on society to take pride in the ruins, as the level of infrastructure destruction in certain areas of the “DPR” has long exceeded 80%. Such a state of affairs indicates a deep disconnect between the Kremlin elites and the needs of the population. The growing gap between official media reports and the actual situation on the front line creates a fatal illusion of well-being among the top leadership. Graphic manipulations and neural network video clips turn military reports into a surreal show, which only fuels citizens’ distrust of officials.
