Capture of Bakhmut on Russian TV is shown almost like capture of Berlin, - ISW
Russia’s reaction to the alleged capture of Bakhmut shows a growing disconnect between the Kremlin’s internal presentation of the war and the coverage of Russian operations in Ukraine by the military blogging community.
This is stated in the report of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Censor.NET informs.
"Russian state television portrayed the intended capture of Bakhmut as a fateful historical event and stated that the capture of the city would contribute to the success of Russian operations to capture Sloviansk (41 km northwest of Bakhmut), Kramatorsk (35 km northwest of Bakhmut) and even " Dnipro (about 215 km west of Bakhmut). "The Kremlin probably tried to present the capture of Bakhmut as a historic victory, since it still has no tactical success in Ukraine," the post says.
One of the Russian TV channels even said that "Wagnerians" in Bakhmut should feel like "grandfathers in Berlin".
ISW notes the contrast of these state television reports with the more sober statements of Russian ultra-nationalist bloggers, who speculate on the need and chances after Bakhmut to take the villages and the town of Chasiv Yar to the west of it.
"This growing divergence is likely to continue to undermine the Kremlin's ability to shape Russia's information space," predicts ISW.
