Russian bloggers criticise discrepancies in media portrayal of Ukraine war

Russian military bloggers have noted the difference between the reality on the battlefield and the reality disseminated in the Russian Federation's information space.

As Caliber.Az reports with reference to ISW, bloggers emphasise that Russian commentators can "laugh at Ukraine's counter-offensive in the Zaporizhzhya direction and then lose many times more Russian soldiers in the Avdiivka direction" and conclude that Russia is lying to itself about its losses in the war.

One military blogger wondered why the Russian media fixated on footage of failed attacks by Ukrainian armoured vehicles during a counter-offensive in the summer of 2023, even though Russian forces themselves face many of the same tactical challenges in conducting such attacks, especially due to the large number of drones in the battlespace.

Russian bloggers argue about the use of Russian armoured vehicles and their survivability on the battlefield, as well as the conduct of Russian attacks, and they continue to make arguments about how the war is fought, arguing about the tactics of armoured vehicles and the effectiveness of attacks.

ISW also suggests that many bloggers are very aware of the impact that these conversations have on the broader understanding of war.