Maliar: Russian narratives about alleged destruction of Patriot air defense system, successes in Bakhmut - attempt to hide fears about Ukrainian counteroffensive
The purpose of Russian narratives about the alleged destruction of the Patriot air defense system and the successes in Bakhmut is to hide the fact that Russia is actually afraid of a Ukrainian counteroffensive, said Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Hanna Maliar.
"The night rocket attack and its consequences have become the leitmotif of discussions in the channels of pro-Russian telegrams. So, the Russian Defense Ministry has already managed to declare that the purpose of the attack has been achieved and all targets have been hit. Russian Telegram channels are actively spreading information about the alleged destruction of the Patriot battery by a single Dagger (Kinzhal) missile. There are also reports in which the authors went even further and wrote that 2 Iris-T units were additionally destroyed," she wrote on the Telegram channel.
Maliar said that with such messages, the Russian Federation promotes its narrative about the military might of the state, and manipulations in the information space are aimed at creating "a mythical image of the invincibility of the Russian superpower and the intimidation of the international and Ukrainian community."
"It is worth noting that the constant information background of the narrative about the power of Russia remains the coverage of the situation around Bakhmut and other cities with active actions at the front, where, according to authors from Russia, the occupiers constantly seem to be demonstrating success," she added.
According to Maliar, the dissemination of the above narratives has the goal of hiding the fact that in fact Russia is afraid of a Ukrainian counteroffensive.