Military Expert: Gerasimov's Lies Have Reached Trump
- 21.10.2026, 15:46
The Kremlin's false reports have become a pretext for putting pressure on Ukraine.
Statements by Valery Gerasimov , Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Federation , regarding the “capture” of Ukrainian cities and Vladimir Putin’s remarks about a Russian offensive across the entire front outraged even the Z-war correspondents. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine refuted these reports and stated that Dobropillya and Alekseevo-Druzhkivka remain under Ukrainian control.
What is actually happening in Dobropillya, Alekseevo-Druzhkivka, and the Orekhov area, where Gerasimov reported to Putin on the “successes” of the Russian army? For comment, the website Charter97.org reached out to military expert Oleksiy Melnyk, co-director of foreign policy and international security programs at the Razumkov Center in Kyiv:
— Russian military bloggers use a term called “marking territory on credit.” That’s what they call “flag-planting” operations, after which an area is declared captured. Ukrainian official sources say that these claims, to put it mildly, do not correspond to reality. All of this is easy to verify. Moreover, Russian military bloggers themselves cast doubt on the veracity of such reports.
One could laugh this off, but there is a certain logic to it. I don’t think Gerasimov gives this much thought, but let’s see where such reports lead. Setting aside purely military and tactical aspects, one need only listen to Trump.
Most likely, this information is intended for a domestic Russian audience. These people don’t delve too deeply into the details, don’t study maps, and don’t consult alternative sources—they only watch Channel One. They believe it, but that’s their business.
The problem is that then Trump steps onto the stage and declares that Russian troops are seizing more and more Ukrainian territory at a frenzied pace. That’s the direct effect of this lie. It reached Trump, and he believed it. Trump assumes that Russia is constantly winning, while Ukraine is losing territory. He uses this to justify putting pressure on Ukraine and on Zelenskyy personally. He says Ukraine needs to surrender, or else things will only get worse with each passing day.
— On which sections of the front are the Ukrainian Armed Forces currently conducting successful counterattacks? Which results are the most significant?
— When it comes to specific tactical details, it’s best to refer to official reports and independent sources, such as DeepState. Right now, even the very concept of a “line of contact” has become rather arbitrary. As such, a single, unified line practically no longer exists. There is a gray zone 20–30 kilometers wide.
In my view, something else is more important. On the ground, a stalemate has now developed—not only tactical but, by and large, operational as well.
At the same time, Operation “Vivaldi” has shown that the Ukrainian Defense Forces have found a way to conduct—albeit limited—but still operational-scale drone operations in wartime conditions.
Just today, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which many consider an authoritative source, published a new report. According to its observations and calculations, Russian forces made virtually no progress between July 1 and October 15. The balance between territories newly occupied by the Russians and those they lost is, at best, close to zero.
This, in my view, is precisely what we need to focus on. The Russian spring-summer offensive essentially stalled as it transitioned into the fall campaign. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Defense Forces were able to carry out at least one successful three-phase operation.