According to the ISW team, the lie of the head of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, Sergei Shoigu, about the capture of the bridgehead on the left bank of the Kherson region, is needed by the dictator Vladimir Putin to increase the desired informational effect on the eve of the presidential elections.
Experts explained Shoigu's lie about Krynky
On February 20, Putin's henchman began to claim that the Russian army allegedly managed to capture Krynky on the eastern (left) bank of the Kherson region,
His statements came despite the fact that available visual evidence from open sources, as well as Ukrainian and Russian reports, indicate that the Ukrainian Armed Forces still maintain a limited foothold in the area.
The head of the Ministry of Defence assures that the soldiers of the Russian Federation have cleared Krynky. However, according to Putin, the Russian colonel-general Mikhail Teplinsky, who commands the "Dnepr" group, told him that a few Armed Forces soldiers remained in the settlement.
Shoigu denied Teplinsky's claim and presented the Russian effort as a successful operation, and praised Airborne Forces units and the 810th Marine Brigade for their role in the operation, typical Kremlin praise after the Russians seize a tactical facility.
Why are the Russian authorities lying about Krynky?
Official Moscow may lie about Russia's capture of Krynky to increase the desired informational effect in the presidential elections in March 2024. However, Putin's team is probably creating expectations that the Russian army may not live up to.
It is also worth noting that the head of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation called his cynical lie about the capture of Krynky by Russian troops "the official end of the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the summer of 2023."
U.S. analysts suggest that Moscow has been slow to acknowledge that Russia has seized the initiative across the entire fighting area in Ukraine, likely because of potential concerns about Russia's ability to advance.
