Even Vladimir Putin now admits that the Ukrainian counteroffensive has begun. Nevertheless, Russia's ruler does not believe that it can be successful.
Russia's arms industry is struggling to equip Russian troops with sufficient modern weapons systems, he says. International experts believe that Russia's stocks of ammunition will become scarce. The fact that Putin has apparently acknowledged Russian weaknesses on a few points is not an indicator that the Kremlin's communication strategy or Putin's attitude to the war in Ukraine has changed, writes Alexander Nekrassov.