Commentators on Russian state television were forced to break away from their usual script because of her. rapid advance of Ukrainian troops in his area Kharkiv and the rapid retreat of Moscow.

First “special military operation“as she calls it Moscowmilitant guests on Russian television tried to show that they support the president better than each other Insert and criticize her Ukraine and his allies.

But after the Kyiv blitzkrieg, the mood was more subdued, and the narrative focused on how the Ukrainian forces were allegedly outnumbered by the Russians in the northeast.

Today on TV Russia 24authorized Russian official in the Kharkiv region Vitaly GadchevAccording to him, the number of Russian troops in the region was “eight times smaller.” He also claimed, without providing evidence, that Ukrainian forces were reinforced by “foreign mercenaries.”

“The most difficult week at the front,” with such a phrase, the presenter Dmitry Kisilyev started his show on Sunday evening. Against the background of the studio, against which it was written “RetrainingKisilev said that Russian troops left “previously liberated settlements” under pressure from “superior enemy forces.”

In a rare display of dissent, Mr. Boris Naezdina former liberal politician and regular talk show guest, told the NTV channel, owned by Gazpromthat Putin was misled by his advisers into thinking that Ukraine would be quickly invaded and offered immediate peace talks to end the conflict. Other guests responded positively.

In the daily show “60 minutes” guest Olga Skabeevaa, speaking this morning, he called the Russian bombing of Ukrainian power plants and the ensuing blackouts in eastern Ukraine “a turning point in a special military operation.”

Several guests also referred to Putin’s remark in July that “Russia hasn’t started anything serious yet”, saying that now Moscow will launch decisive military action.

newspapers Speaking about the withdrawal of Russian troops, they limited themselves to statements by the Ministry of Defense about a “tactical regrouping”, although some newspapers, citing military experts, wrote that not everything went according to plan.

Newspaper News in his review over the weekend, he wrote that Russia had killed 4,000 Ukrainian soldiers and the army had “regrouped to focus on the Donbas.”

Newspaper Independent newspaperwas even more critical, writing that the Russian Defense Ministry has not commented on “extremely disturbing reports from Ukraine (…) for several weeks.”

The newspaper notes that as Ukrainian forces advanced toward Russia’s western border, Moscow’s military leadership was thousands of miles away in the country’s Far East, where military exercises involving 50,000 people were taking place.

Reuters