Russia is preparing for a protracted war in Ukraine by spreading propaganda about "the first stage of a special operation. It has become obvious that the so-called withdrawal of troops in the Chernihiv and Kyiv directions is nothing more than a redeployment.
This is reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council.
"Russian propaganda is actively spreading theses: "the first stage of the special operation has demonstrated results", "denazification is going according to plan", "Donbas can count on security". It is already obvious that the so-called withdrawal of troops in Kyiv and Chernihiv regions is nothing more than redeployment," the report says.
According to CNN, citing U.S. intelligence, Russia is now shifting its focus to show victory on May 9 in eastern Ukraine.
But as the SNBO notes, this will only be an interim outcome of the protracted war, as Putin aims to celebrate his victory on May 9 regardless of what the actual situation in Ukraine will be
"Ukraine realizes that even amid harsh economic sanctions and the defeat of its blitzkrieg plan, Russia will not stop its attempts to seize the entire territory of our state. Shifting the battlefield does not mean that Russia will stop resorting to air attacks with long-range missiles and aircraft over the rest of Ukraine," the department explains.
As a reminder, Mykhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Presidential Office, stated that Russia is trying to put the war against Ukraine into a partially "protracted phase. In particular, due to too high losses in personnel and military equipment.
