Russian President Vladimir Putin is increasingly announcing "territorial achievements" of his troops, but most of them are just fabrications. This is stated in a report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), quoted by Focus.
The Kremlin leader continues to assure the Russians that the capture of the entire Donetsk region is proceeding according to plan.
He stated that last month the Russian army occupied 15 settlements in the region with a total area of 270 sq. km.
American analysts emphasize that data from open sources do not confirm these “successes“.
According to ISW data, in August the Russians took control of only 73.14 sq. km. of territory in the Donetsk region.
It is also known that last month the Russian army managed to strengthen or capture 90.35 sq. km. of the entire theater of military operations.
Analysts also recall that Putin at least He has set his troops 15 deadlines for the complete capture of the Donetsk region - none of which have been met.
Moreover, Putin stated that the Russian Northern Group had captured Svyatgorsk. ISW notes that during their maximum offensive in late spring - early summer, Russian troops were no closer than 13 km from the city.
The Russian president's loud statement about the capture of Kozacha Lopanya also turned out to be a lie. It is known that soldiers from the Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to defend this settlement. The latest data indicate that the Russians control approximately 13.39% of its territory.
In addition, Putin began to claim that the Russian Western Group had surrounded 13 Ukrainian battalions - about 5 thousand soldiers - on the eastern shore of the Oskilskoye Reservoir near Piski-Radkovsky.
However, ISW has not found evidence of the presence of Russian troops in the indicated area, let alone the encirclement of significant Ukrainian forces there.