Trapped in His Generals’ Lies: Does Putin Even Know What’s Happening at the Front?

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Many have questioned why Putin continues to publicly claim that the Russian army is advancing and that Ukraine is supposedly “close to disaster” when the battlefield reality appears far more complicated. The key question is whether the Kremlin leader truly understands the real situation at the front—or is relying on distorted reports from his generals.

I followed his statements and concluded that, yes, he really believes the situation is exactly this: the Russian army is advancing; Kupyansk is in the “red zone”; Liman is 85% under Russian control; Kostyantynivka will soon be under Russian control; fighting continues on the approaches to Sloviansk. Therefore, the war will soon end, but it will end in victory and on the Russian side’s terms.

Putin really doesn’t use the Internet and therefore considers it harmful and blocks its work in every way. True, he understands that the Internet is part of this world, but it must be completely controlled so that only what benefits the regime is present.

Putin uses information provided to him by people he trusts in every way. Those people he trusts lie to him shamelessly, because for them, war is primarily a way to enrich themselves and launder money. While they can, they will rake in the money, and then the curve will somehow lead them out.

Are there people in the Kremlin who soberly assess the situation? There are, and there are many of them, but they do not have “access to the body.” And those who do have such access have placed Putin in a “warm bath” and an information bubble. Actually, this is the fate of any autocrat or dictator: they only tell him what he wants to hear.

So, Putin relays a distorted picture to the outside world, feeds it to Donald Trump, who initially believed it, and now simply decides to deal with Iran. But it is this distorted picture that is one of the reasons why the negotiations, moderated by Trump, have reached a dead end. In my opinion, under the influence of Putin’s fairy tales, which were based on the lies of his generals, the American negotiators really believed that the best way out for Ukraine would be to simply agree to the loss of territories, because it would be worse from now on.

Does this mean that “the tsar is good, and the boyars are bad”? For example, if someone tells Putin the truth, does this mean that he will decide to stop the war?

No. For Putin, this war is the key to his political and physical existence. Because in Russian history, tsars who lost wars did not live long. If he finds out that he was lied to, it is not a fact that heads will even fly. Most likely, on the contrary, he will issue an order for further escalation to “achieve the goals of the SVO. ” Whether it will be additional mobilization, another launch of “Oreshnik,” or the opening of new directions, I am not ready to predict.

But the scariest thing is that the lies of the Russian generals have fallen on fertile ground. Putin really believes that he will win, because those he trusts told him so. And if those he doesn’t trust suddenly tell him the truth, then he doesn’t believe them because they are telling the truth that Putin doesn’t want to hear.

Recall that in Russian government circles, statements began to be heard about the need to stop hostilities against Ukraine. The main incentive for such talks was the rapid deterioration of the aggressor country’s economy. Thus, the Russian budget deficit has approached 6 trillion rubles, forcing the government to seek ways to radically reduce spending.

Meanwhile, Western analysts are reporting signs of a growing crisis of power in Russia, accompanied by a loss of unity over military actions and mounting economic pressure. According to The Economist, the current situation indicates that Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin has finally led the country into a strategic and political deadlock. The main indicator of this process has not only been the economic decline but also a significant transformation in the language used by representatives of power circles.

However, the likelihood of an organized rebellion among the Russian leader’s inner circle is minimal due to tight control by the special services and systematic purges of the opposition. Military-political analyst Dmitry Snegirev expressed skepticism about rumors of internal coups on the air of “Pryamyi,” recalling the fate of Shoigu, who is currently effectively isolated from real influence.

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