As of: February 22, 2024, 7:11 a.m
By: Bettina Menzel
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Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on February 20, 2024.
© IMAGO/Alexander Kazakov/Itar-Tass
With the capture of Avdiivka, Russia achieved a symbolic victory.
However, at a propaganda meeting, Putin and Shoigu overstepped the mark in the opinion of numerous military bloggers.
Moscow – According to the US Department of Defense, at least 315,000 Russian soldiers or more have already been wounded in the Ukraine war.
There was repeated talk of Moscow's “meat grinder,” for example in the battle of Avdiivka, which claimed high casualties.
But Russian President Vladimir Putin is apparently trying to sweep these losses under the carpet.
At a meeting with his Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Tuesday (February 20), the Kremlin chief celebrated military successes.
The death of his compatriots: minor matter.
Meeting between Putin and Shoigu: “Minimal losses”
Last weekend, Ukraine had to withdraw from the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka, which has been hotly contested for months.
A symbolic victory for the Kremlin leader.
The fact that the capture took place shortly before the elections in Russia can be seen as a goal set by Putin.
The meeting with Defense Minister Shoigu served primarily for propaganda purposes - also because the start of the invasion of Ukraine will soon be the second anniversary.
The two politicians showered each other with praise and celebrated alleged military successes, the
BR
judged of the meeting.
Their analysis obviously went too far.
The operation in Avdiivka will be included in textbooks and analyzed at military academies, the minister said in an interview with the state news agency Tass.
“Here the General Staff did everything to ensure that it went through with minimal losses and maximum efficiency,” was the defense minister’s summary of the costly battle.
Not a word about the fallen Russian soldiers.
This did not go unnoticed in Russia.
“There were and are losses that unfortunately cannot be avoided.
Instead of lying, let’s keep working and not mislead people,” commented a well-known Russian military blogger.
In another post he added: “Let’s not lie to people.
I am at a loss for words."
Criticism from the Russian military blogger scene on Shoigu's statements
The morale of the Russian troops is strong, the interviewer told the defense minister during the conversation on Tuesday.
Shoigu answers curtly “Yes!”
There are indications that this might not be true.
There was further criticism in the Russian military blogger scene.
Shoigu also announced on Tuesday that the Ukrainian bridgehead Krynky on the Dnipro River had been captured by Russian troops.
Ukraine itself recently denied this, and the statements made by both sides could not initially be independently verified.
A Russian military blogger commented on a video of the defense minister, “Lies to the president’s face.”
The Ukrainians are still present in the village at the moment, the blogger continued.
The US think tank Institute for the Study of War concluded that “available visual evidence” as well as reports from both sides indicate that Ukrainian forces are maintaining their “limited bridgehead” in Krynky.
“The most brutal battles for Krynki will be fought on the Internet tomorrow,” wrote one of the biggest military bloggers ironically.
“Even the few dozen officers of the armed forces [on the banks of the Dnipro] are amazed at how we are fighting with ourselves.”
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If Krynki was conquered, Shoigu would be welcome to come to visit, front-line soldiers mocked, another blogger said.
In any case, the information spread by the Kremlin was “absolutely untrue,” the comment continued.
But too much criticism of the Kremlin can be dangerous: On Wednesday, the ultranationalist blogger Andrei Morozov died after criticizing the losses in the Russian army, as the
New York Times
reported.