Putin Brutally Mocked by His Own for Bogus War Briefing

The battlefield boasts were widely panned even by Kremlin propagandists, who said “psychiatrists” were needed to make sense of the disconnect.

Russian President Vladimir Putin visits a command post of Russia's joint force grouping, in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, at an unidentified location, in this still image taken from a video released on October 16, 2026.

Russian President Vladimir Putin starred in a new Kremlin propaganda video Friday touting battlefield gains in Ukraine after being freshly fluffed by President Donald Trump’s show of support.

Footage circulated widely by the Kremlin and state-controlled media showed Putin visiting a command post of Russia’s Joint Group of Forces, where he was met by Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov.

The 74-year-old Russian leader showed up in military garb before walking into the command post, which oddly featured camouflage netting on the inside rather than the outside. Reading from papers in front of him, Putin rattled off a series of fantastical Russian “successes” on the battlefield since the start of the year.

He reported the seizure of 6,500 square kilometers of Ukrainian land by Russian forces, approximately 45 percent more than independent monitors have documented, or five times more than what the DeepState battlefield map reflects.

Citing these “successes,” Putin went on to declare that “massive, coordinated strikes against Ukraine must continue.”

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Gerasimov, in his performative briefing before the TV cameras, fed Putin a string of other demonstrably false claims about fresh gains on the battlefield. Nearly a year after first proudly reporting that Russian troops had taken control of the city of Kupyansk in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, Gerasimov did so again.

Russian President Vladimir Putin visits a command post of Russia’s joint force grouping at an unidentified location, in this still image taken from a video released on Oct. 16, 2026.

The claim was immediately debunked the first time it was made last November, and analysts say it’s still a lie; while small Russian assault groups have been making incursions into the city, it is not under Russian control, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

Gerasimov also claimed Russian troops have advanced to within three miles of Zaporizhzhia, despite an updated open-source intelligence map from DeepState placing the front line about 12 miles out.

The claims were quickly ridiculed even by pro-Kremlin military bloggers who are typically quick to celebrate Russian breakthroughs.

Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Chief of the General Staff of Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov at a command post of Russia's joint force grouping, in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, at an unidentified location, in this still image taken from a video released on October 16, 2026.

Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Chief of the General Staff of Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov in this still image taken from a video released on Oct. 16, 2026.

“Trump will be just as impressed by the pace of the Russian Armed Forces’ advance as we are surprised by it now,” wrote one popular pro-Kremlin Telegram channel, Nash Regnum.

“I wonder if he can be prosecuted for spreading fake news about the Russian Armed Forces? This is an absolute disgrace!” wrote the pro-war channel Alex Parker Returns.

Others vented that there was “no point” trying to make sense of the claims.

“This has all been analyzed before. The relevant specialists—psychiatrists, addiction specialists, and gerontologists—will comment on what’s left,” wrote the pro-war blogger Artjockey.

Russia’s Defense Ministry has repeatedly been called out for fabricating battlefield gains and presenting a distorted view of the situation on the ground to Putin, but the disconnect has taken on a sharper focus as the Kremlin cites its purported military wins to bend the Trump administration in its favor in the hopes of forcing Ukraine to capitulate.

The Kremlin’s public announcements of (often dubious) battlefield breakthroughs have often coincided with major diplomatic talks, with similar claims made before Trump’s envoys visited Moscow and before Trump met with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky.

The latest publicity stunt comes as the Kremlin, having already won a partial easing of sanctions from Trump, reportedly works to have 260 billion euros ($292 billion) worth of assets unfrozen in Western countries.

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