Heavy losses for Ukraine, the feats of Russian soldiers, and fake news from Kyiv – Meduza

In early September, the Ukrainian army launched an offensive on the countrys Kharkiv region, causing occupying Russian troops to retreat for the first time since the start of the full-scale war. According to independent analyses, Ukrainian forces have regained control of thousands of square kilometers. While the Russian Defense Ministry has technically confirmed the withdrawal, it claims the goal of this new operation is to consolidate its troops in the Donbas, not to flee a Ukrainian attack. Heres what Russias TV personalities had to say about the retreat on September 11.

TV pundit Dmitry Kiselyov brought up the retreat at the very start of his show. He noted that the past week had been one of the most difficult since the start of the war, and that it was particularly difficult in the Kharkiv area, where, amidst an onslaught of superior enemy forces, were forced to abandon previously-liberated settlements.

Kiselyov also claimed that the Ukrainian army had suffered heavy losses and that Russian forces managed to stabilize the situation and avoid getting surrounded. In a segment about Ukraines offensive on Kupyansk, a correspondent claimed that Ukrainian forces fired on residential areas and that their units are run predominantly by Western mercenaries.

Viewers were also told that Ukrainian troops in the Kherson region were unable to secure gains that appeared attainable at the start of the offensive, and that this was the reason why Ukainian soldiers began terrorizing civilians. Russian troops, said the correspondent, continue to gain ground in the self-proclaimed Donetsk Peoples Republic.

Kiselyov also claimed that Ukrainians are carrying out filtration operations in their newly conquered territories, and that neo-Nazis have threatened to kill civilians especially those who managed to get Russian passports. Its all very sad, he concluded.

A digest of Russias investigative reports and news analysis. If it matters, we summarize it.

Weekly Review host Irada Zeinalova didnt go into detail about the Russian army's retreat on Sunday, but the episode did include a press briefing from Igor Konashenkov, a Russian Defense Ministry representative. Konashenkov announced an operation to curtail and organize the transfer of troops from the Izyum-Balakliya direction to scale up efforts in the Donetsk area.

A segment filmed on the ground in Ukraine claimed that fighting in the Kharkiv region was ongoing, but that the worst case scenario the encirclement of union forces that Ukraine so desires didnt come to pass. In addition, said the correspondent, the Ukrainian-American-European forces are in a weak position because theyre spread so thin along the front line.

Nonetheless, he continued, Ukraine continues to spread fake reports of a victory.

Sunday Time, the final show of the week from Russias flagship news channel, Channel One, contained almost no mention of the Russian army's retreat.

Fierce fighting in recent days: the elimination of remaining militants, who suffered huge losses as they tried to break through to Kherson; the liberation of strategically important parts of the DNR; and the regrouping of troops, the host said at the top of the episode.

The network aired excerpts from Konashenkovs briefing that included his claims about Ukrainian losses, but didnt show his announcement about the operation to curtail and organize the transfer of troops from the Kharkiv region.

Next, there was a segment on the feats of soldiers and commanders during the course of the regrouping that was mentioned earlier. The correspondent didnt give any details about the regrouping other than by repeating the Defense Ministrys statement about the operation to curtail and organize the transfer of troops out of the Izyum-Balakliya area.

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Heavy losses for Ukraine, the feats of Russian soldiers, and fake news from Kyiv - Meduza