Russian propaganda claims victory over Ukraine; an expert explains why such statements benefit Putin.

Statements from Russians about an alleged victory over Ukraine are aimed at misleading the Ukrainians themselves.

This was stated by political expert Taras Zahorodnyi in a comment to the YouTube channel RBK-Ukraine.

What preceded

Recently, Russian propaganda began disseminating falsehoods claiming that Russia has supposedly achieved the goals of its "special military operation" and defeated Ukraine.

A "seminar" was held in Russia for vice-governors, organized by the administration of Russian dictator Putin. At this "seminar," issues related to the war in Ukraine were discussed. In particular, work was conducted on the "image of victory" for Russia, as well as the attitude of Russians towards the so-called "SVO."

What Zahorodnyi says

According to the expert, such statements from Russians are primarily targeted at the Ukrainian audience. This way, Russia may attempt to distract the attention of Ukrainians.

"Russians cannot quickly halt their military machine, even if they stop the war tomorrow. Putin has achieved virtually nothing of what he wanted. Ukraine remains a militarized hostile state that will work towards avenging Russia and will strive for the disintegration of Russia, as this is a matter of our survival. This process will continue," Zahorodnyi stated.

He reminded that the military economy in Russia is currently heavily ramped up, and moreover, Putin has signed a record budget for this purpose. That is why it will be difficult to stop all of this.

"It's like driving a car and suddenly hitting the brakes; if you don't have a seatbelt on, you'll fly through the windshield. This means that some next war must occur. It could be either NATO - Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia - or Georgia and Armenia. Therefore, I do not believe what they are writing; this is a disinformation campaign," the expert declared.

Earlier, we reported that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin signed a law on Russia's budget for 2025. The RF will allocate a record amount for the war. As noted by Russian state media, the Russian government has projected budget revenues of over 40 trillion rubles.