Vladimir Putin’s propaganda is bombarding the West with claims of military success in Ukraine, of Russia’s economic growth despite international sanctions, and of widespread global support for the Kremlin. In reality, Moscow’s alleged triumphs are based on the same illusions and deceptions as its failed communist past, in which the Soviet Union was supposedly destined to surpass the West.
Russian leaders are trying to convince Western leaders that Ukraine is losing the war in order to terminate military assistance for Kyiv. In reality, the war is disastrous for Russia. Although the Ukrainian counteroffensive stalled in Donbas and Zaporizhzhia for the winter, after defeating Russian forces in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Kherson, the Russian army is being decimated, and its navy has been pushed back from the western part of the Black Sea. During two years of combat, Russia has lost at least 315,000 killed or severely wounded, from a ground force of some 360,000 that invaded Ukraine. It has also sustained huge losses in equipment, including 2,200 out of some 3,500 tanks and a third of its armored vehicles.
