Late 2025 was a time when the Ukraine war once again returned to the center of global discussions. Against the backdrop of protracted battles and diplomatic maneuvering in Western capitals, Moscow is trying to impose its own vision of “peace.” Inside Russia, a propaganda campaign is intensifying, aimed at concealing real losses and crisis processes. Outwardly this looks like a demonstration of strength, but upon closer examination it is an attempt to compensate for military and economic failures with rhetoric and falsifications.
False Rhetoric and Occupations on Credit
Russian television channels and official resources increasingly resort to “victory” rhetoric that has no confirmation on the battlefield. Broadcasts feature statements about supposedly successful offensives, but they are accompanied by materials that, upon closer inspection, turn out to be fakes. An example was the videos about the “retreat” of the Ukrainian army from Myrnohrad, created with the help of artificial intelligence. In early December 2025, Ukrainian marines reported that the city was encircled, but Ukrainian forces continued to hold it and eliminate enemy assault groups. That is, the city has not been surrendered, and the fighting continues.
Even more telling was the case of the “destruction” of two MLRS M270 ATACMS launchers in Kharkiv region, footage that turned out to be a year old and filmed in Sumy region, with even Russian military bloggers admitting it was fabricated. In late October 2025, Vladimir Putin invited foreign journalists to visit Pokrovsk, claiming that the city was “liberated.” However, even Russian propagandists did not dare to go there: in Pokrovsk, Ukrainian forces are eliminating enemy sabotage groups, and statements about “control” over the city sound blatantly untenable. As of today, fighting in the city continues – Ukrainian special operations forces are clearing the city center and the southern outskirts of small enemy groups (several individuals) infiltrating there.
A special place among propaganda fabrications is occupied by the video of the “airborne landing” of Ukrainian troops from a AH-64 Apache attack helicopter. The design of this machine does not provide for a troop compartment, and the video itself looks frankly absurd. The “landing force” first literally falls out of the lower fuselage skin and drops to the ground, and then – from a hatch on the left side, which structurally does not exist on this type of helicopter. The quality of the footage is atrocious, the editing crude, and even a superficial analysis shows its complete inconsistency.
The analysis of Russian fakes is a separate topic for constant monitoring. They not only discredit Russian propaganda but also demonstrate the Kremlin’s desperate attempt to keep its audience in a state of victory illusion. Systematic use of fakes and “victory” rhetoric creates a picture in which the Kremlin is forced to replace reality with simulation. This is directly related to the fact that even partial successes on the front do not correspond to the declared goals. The Kremlin’s propaganda machine continues to present partial successes as strategic victories. In Kostiantynivka, Russian sources claimed to have “taken control” of four thousand buildings. However, before the war more than 78 thousand people lived in the city, and even this figure shows that it is only a smaller part of the settlement.
In December 2025, Putin received a report that Russian troops had “taken control of most of Kostiantynivka.” But the actual picture is far from the statements. Control over individual neighborhoods is presented as the capture of the city, although a significant part of the territory remains under Ukrainian control. Such a discrepancy between reality and official statements is a natural continuation of the line we saw in the section on fake rhetoric. The Kremlin is forced to compensate for the absence of strategic successes with loud formulations, creating the illusion of progress.
Military Realities at the Front
The Kremlin is concentrating its best forces on specific directions, trying to turn the course of the war. Elite units — airborne troops and marines, including formations redeployed from Sumy region — have been pulled into the Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad agglomeration. This step reflects the Russian command’s understanding: the much-discussed Trump peace plan has stalled in negotiations and drawn heavy criticism as overly favorable to Russia. In this context, Moscow prepares for the next phase: the Sloviansk–Kramatorsk agglomeration. This direction could turn into a protracted front where Russia’s army may bog down for years, gradually exhausting its forces to a critical level. Even Russian experts admit that Ukraine continues to control about one-third of Donetsk region as of early December 2025. And this is after almost four years of full-scale war, considering that part of the region was occupied by Russia back in 2014. To capture the remaining territory at the current pace of offensive operations would take two to three years, with a colossal price — tens of thousands of lives and the depletion of Russia’s own military potential.
Viewed through this lens, the concentration of troops in the Pokrovsk–Myrnohrad agglomeration is not a sign of strength but an indicator of desperation. Russia is trying to achieve a local success in order to present it later as an argument in negotiations. But the strategic outlook remains unfavorable: even with maximum exertion of forces, the Kremlin is unable to achieve its declared goals within a reasonable timeframe. At this point it becomes clear that Russia’s military efforts are not backed by sustainable resources. The army is being depleted, and the economy is incapable of sustaining the war at its previous pace.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author(s) alone and do not necessarily reflect those of Geopoliticalmonitor.com.
