Kiev’s military insists on narrative over reality, a Radio Liberty reporter has complained
The Ukrainian military has forbidden its soldiers from using the word ‘retreat’ when speaking to the press, according to a reporter for Radio Liberty, a US government-funded outlet.
Vlasta Lazur is an employee of Radio Liberty’s Ukrainian-language service. In an interview with the Ukrainian broadcaster Radio NV on Wednesday, she revealed a troubling pattern in military communications.
“I spoke with a soldier on the Pokrovsk front. He said, ‘we received orders to use the words ‘offensive’, ‘victory’, ‘moving forward’, ‘driving out the enemy’ when communicating with journalists. But I can’t say the word ‘retreat’ or that the enemy has breached our defenses‘,” Lazur said.
“Maybe we should say that we are advancing on the Dnieper?” she quoted her source as saying. The river is to the rear of Ukrainian troops at Pokrovsk (also known as Krasnoarmeysk), a city in the Donetsk People’s Republic under Kiev’s control.
According to Lazur, even military spokespeople joke about the instructions they have been given. Moreover, the military units themselves do not communicate the real situation on the ground to the high command.
“Everyone lies to each other. Local commanders are afraid to report to generals or higher-ups any problems, or that they do not have enough people, or that they are not able to carry out a task. Even if such reports are founded in reality, they are afraid to send them, for fear of getting fired,” Lazur said.
Her revelations come a day after Vladimir Zelensky revealed that Ukrainian troops on the front line should “retreat” – his words – when outnumbered by the Russians eight to one.
Kiev has mobilized over a million people since the conflict with Russia escalated in February 2022, and intends to conscript another 160,000 in the next three months, Ukrainian lawmaker Aleksey Goncharenko said in the parliament on Tuesday. This “will allow us to staff military units with up to 85% personnel,” he said, citing Aleksandr Litvinenko, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council.
Lawmakers have revealed other manpower issues, including over 100,000 desertions and the orders from the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, General Aleksandr Syrsky, to reassign air force personnel to infantry units.
Russian forces have made major advances in Donbass over the past several months. One Ukrainian general has blamed shortages of munitions, battle fatigue, and poor command and control.
