(MOSCOW) – A prominent Russian state television programme has broadcast claims that the ongoing invasion of Ukraine represents the most successful military operation in the history of the Russian army. During a recent broadcast of The Evening With Vladimir Solovyov, the host, alongside political scientist Dmitry Kulikov and St Petersburg State University diplomacy programme head Stanislav Tkachenko, presented a highly sceptical narrative regarding the last four years of conflict. The panel attempted to reframe the profound losses and economic isolation mandated by the Russian dictator as historic victories.
Solovyov opened the discussion by asserting that a war for narratives is currently underway. He dismissed Western perspectives that suggest Russia has lost everything over the past four years. To justify this stance, he drew a direct comparison between the official territorial changes and economic losses of the Soviet Union from June 1941 to May 1945 against the current period from February 2022 to the present day. Solovyov argued that, unlike the catastrophic loss of 27 million lives and the destruction of over 1400 cities during the Second World War, the current invasion has yielded territorial and population acquisitions.
The host claimed a massive population increase for Russia, attributing this to displaced Ukrainians moving to Russian territory and former Ukrainian citizens now living in occupied regions. He dismissed statistical evidence to the contrary, maintaining that the population has grown. Furthermore, he claimed that the Russian state has largely avoided heavy combat on its own soil. However, he was forced to concede the reality of deep strikes by long range missiles and ongoing tragedies in regions such as Kursk, Belgorod, and Bryansk, as well as the contested Ukrainian territories of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
Addressing the Russian economy, Solovyov painted a picture of a system that was booming despite international sanctions. He stated that the current economic slowdown is exclusively a deliberate measure taken to combat inflation. He praised the growth rate of the military industrial complex, asserting that it has reached levels unseen even during the Soviet era. This led to his most sweeping claim, describing the invasion of Ukraine as one of the most successful, if not the most successful, military operations ever conducted by the Russian army. He cited the capture of the Sea of Azov as an internal Russian body of water and the seizure of rich lands and minerals as primary evidence of this supposed triumph.
The panel also discussed the mood of Russian society, again using the Second World War as a benchmark. Solovyov referenced the historical presence of collaborators and traitors, contrasting it with what he described as a completely different and more unified societal attitude today. He acknowledged that between hundreds of thousands and 900,000 citizens fled the country, but he insisted that more than half of those exiles have already returned, while millions of Ukrainians have supposedly arrived.
The rhetoric then escalated to familiar nuclear threats. Solovyov warned that Western policies could lead to the use of nuclear weapons, referencing intelligence from the foreign intelligence service. He echoed a notorious sentiment previously voiced by the Russian dictator, asking what the point of a world would be if Russia were not in it.
Following this, the guests added their own assessments. It was claimed that the Russian armed forces have successfully maintained an offensive posture since the autumn of 2023, defying expectations regarding the nature of modern warfare. They also highlighted a supposed lack of European unity as a major diplomatic victory for Russia, pointing to political disputes and democratic challenges in European nations such as Romania and Hungary.
However, the broadcast concluded with a rare moment of factual grounding from Solovyov himself. He interrupted his guests to describe their views on European collapse as wishful thinking. The host pointed out that the European economy is currently growing and that Western sanctions are indeed beginning to work. He reminded his panel that the combined European economy is vastly larger than that of Russia and that Europe possesses a full industrial cycle that is currently working to supply the Ukrainian military machine.
