The Kremlin and the broader Russian media are intensifying attempts to portray Ukraine's counteroffensive as a failure. Thus, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is rushing to boast that the occupiers are "destroying dozens of units of Ukrainian armed forces' equipment".

He also continues to attribute "heavy losses" of personnel to the Ukrainian forces, but keeps silent about his own 244,000 mercenaries liquidated in Ukraine over the past 17 months. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) pointed out how desperately the Kremlin leader is trying to portray himself as an effective military leader.

For example, Putin told the reporters that as of July 27, Russian troops had allegedly destroyed 39 of 50 armored vehicles that the Ukrainian Defense Forces had "engaged" in an offensive in the Zaporizhzhia region.

He also claimed that the Russian occupiers had "killed 60 percent of the Ukrainian personnel" carrying out these attacks and another "40 percent of the pilots of Ukrainian combat aviation" in the area.

"Putin has previously claimed that Russian troops have destroyed an incredible amount of Ukrainian equipment during Ukrainian counter-offensive operations, although his figures regarding Ukrainian attacks in recent days indicate that he is exaggerating," ISW emphasized.

Amid the nonsense voiced by the Kremlin leader, Russian bloggers also claimed that the occupation troops of the aggressor country had destroyed "dozens of Ukrainian armored vehicles." They presented the alleged Ukrainian losses to the Russians as proof that "the Ukrainian armed forces' counteroffensive has stalled."

Remarkably, the Kremlin's and Russian media's portrayal of the Ukrainian counteroffensive violates Moscow's earlier guidance instructing the Russian media not to downplay the potential for successful Ukrainian Defense Forces offensives.

"The increasing portrayal of the Ukrainian counteroffensive as a failure suggests that the Kremlin's policy in covering the war is designed to support efforts to promote Putin as an effective military leader," ISW explained the latest rhetoric from the dictator and terrorist state propagandists.

As reported by OBOZREVATEL, Russian opposition activist Olga Kurnosova is convinced that Putin does not get bad news, including those concerning the war against Ukraine. According to her, the Kremlin dictator might not have known about the preparations for a military coup attempt by the head of PMC Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin and he is also not aware of what is happening to his troops on the frontline.

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