{"id":1454,"date":"2026-05-19T07:09:47","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T11:09:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jakony.com\/frontpage\/?p=1454"},"modified":"2026-05-19T07:09:47","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T11:09:47","slug":"from-borova-to-lyman-the-disappearing-evidence-of-russias-gains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jakony.com\/frontpage\/europe\/from-borova-to-lyman-the-disappearing-evidence-of-russias-gains\/","title":{"rendered":"From Borova to Lyman, the Disappearing Evidence of Russia\u2019s Gains"},"content":{"rendered":"

(LONDON) \u2013<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0Russia\u2019s military command fabricated five separate battlefield advances over the weekend, drawing immediate and unusually sharp public rebukes from its own military bloggers and analysts.<\/span><\/p>\n

The claims, delivered by Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, described sweeping territorial gains along a 350 kilometre front. Independent verification using geolocated footage and multiple mapping services has found no evidence to support any of the assertions. The episode mirrors a similar propaganda failure last autumn concerning the town of Kupiansk, suggesting the Kremlin\u2019s information apparatus has failed to absorb a critical lesson.<\/span><\/p>\n

Video evidence released by the Russian Ministry of Defence to support one claim was geolocated by open source investigators to a location roughly 25 kilometres away from the settlement it purportedly showed. The footage, which allegedly depicted the liberation of Borova, was traced by the analyst \u2018Zom\u2019 on the social media platform X to a completely different area, which had reportedly been captured and recaptured multiple times previously.<\/span><\/p>\n

The five unsubstantiated declarations included a western advance from Kupiansk towards Shevchenkove, the complete capture of Borova by the 1st Tank Army, ongoing street battles for control of more than half of Shyikivka, a broad front advance by the 20th Army having declared the liberation of the entire Luhansk region, and the assertion that 85 percent of the city of Krasnyi Lyman is under Russian control. None of these operational claims are reflected in assessments by non state mapping projects, including those historically sympathetic to the Russian Defence Ministry\u2019s narrative.<\/span><\/p>\n

The response from within Russia\u2019s own information sphere was swift and scathing. The Telegram channel Military Informant noted that not a single domestic mapping project had recorded even a stable presence of Russian forces in Borova, let alone full control. Russian military blogger Mirikov dismissed the statements as the most blatant nonsense seen in a long time, warning that such “borrowed victories” lead to serious tactical mistakes and greater losses when commanders believe territory is secure.<\/span><\/p>\n

Veteran Notes, another Russian mil blogger, framed the deception as a fundamental and arrogant underestimation of the enemy. He stated that while psychological manipulation through triumphant posts was possible in the chaotic first six months of the war, the fifth year of conflict demands serious analysis that the current official narrative does not provide. The blogger added that the sight of Ukrainian drones striking Moscow makes the rhetoric of a successful demilitarisation appear utterly nonsensical.<\/span><\/p>\n

The most immediate danger for Russian forces is a replication of the Kupiansk scenario from last autumn. When the command falsely reported the city\u2019s capture, logistical units and supply chains moved forward under the false assumption of a secure rear area, placing them within range of Ukrainian drone strikes. Forward assault units, believing reinforcements were unnecessary for a \u201csecured\u201d zone, were cut off, encircled and systematically routed in a subsequent Ukrainian counterattack. The fabrication of operational control directly degrades the efficiency of the kill chain, slows air and drone support by prompting redundant target verification, and exposes logistics to precision strikes.<\/span><\/p>\n

The strategic fabrications come amid a notable shift in the conflict\u2019s dynamic, marked by Ukraine\u2019s increased capacity for effective long range strikes inside Russian territory, including the largest drone attack on Moscow of the war just days prior. The convergence of demonstrable kinetic strikes on the Russian capital and transparently false claims of frontline progress has placed the Kremlin\u2019s information strategy under strain not seen in the previous phases of the war.<\/span><\/p>\n