Russian propaganda is beginning to prepare Russians for defeat, believes expert veteran

Russian propaganda has begun to prepare the Russian populace for defeat in the war against Ukraine, according to Major Oleksiy Hetman (ret.), a veteran of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, said to Radio NV on June 21.

"They're beginning to prepare the Russians, by and large, for defeat, which they want to present as the fulfillment of all the tasks that were set before the so-called 'special military operation,'" he said.

Hetman reminded the show’s listeners that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced on June 19 that the Russians had destroyed almost all the weapons that had been in Ukraine since Soviet times.

"But NATO intervened here," he said.

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"Peskov keeps saying 'Washington,' well, Washington intervened and provided us with a large number of Western weapons, so it's a little difficult for them. But by and large, he (Peskov) carefully summed up that the tasks of the 'special military operation' on the demilitarization of Ukraine were fulfilled."

Hetman explained that he considers this the first attempt to prepare the Russians for the possibility that they could withdraw their troops from Ukraine without achieving any territorial gains.

"It will be justified by the fact that they did everything they wanted," he said.

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"And while withdrawing the troops, they will show that they are for peace, want peace, etc. This is how they want to hide their defeat, because I think they won't be able to announce in the Russian disinformation media that they lost the war to Ukraine. Therefore, they made such attempts to find out how society would react.”

Peskov said in an interview with RT Arabic that Russia’s task of the mythical “demilitarization” of Ukraine had allegedly already been largely accomplished.

“Ukraine was heavily militarized at the beginning of the ‘special military operation,’ and as (Russian dictator Vladimir) Putin said yesterday, the demilitarization of Ukraine was one of the main tasks,” Peskov said.

“In fact, this task has largely been accomplished, because Ukraine is using less of its weapons, but is using more weapons systems supplied by Western countries.”

Such “actions of the West oblige Russia to take more decisive measures for the safety of people in Donbas and Russia’s safety,” he added.

In turn, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba ridiculed Peskov’s statement.

“In the following series: all tasks of the ‘special military operation’ have actually been completed,” he wrote on Facebook.

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“Ukraine, as a member of the European Union and NATO, won’t be able to attack Russia, Crimea is no longer a burden on the Russian budget, the Nazis remained only in Russia, and the loss of Russian soldiers and equipment in Ukraine, which we won’t tell anyone about, helped us correct our mistakes and make Russia stronger. Russia is stronger than ever.”

Kuleba also advised Ukraine’s partners not to be surprised if Russian dictator Vladimir Putin explains the loss of Crimea to the Russians.

Prior to that, Putin made a vague statement that contained contradictions about the goal of Russia’s attack on Ukraine: it could change or remain the same at the same time.

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