ISW Revealed How Putin And Gerasimov Were Defiantly Lying
- 27.10.2025, 11:26
Their words are refuted even by Z-propagandists.
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and Russian General Staff Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov continue to exaggerate the accomplishments and victories of the occupiers on the battlefield in their statements, demonstrating that the Kremlin is still determined to seize all of Ukraine's Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions.
This is talked about in a new report from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
On October 26, Putin held a meeting with Gerasimov and Russian troop group commanders. As ISW analysts have pointed out, Putin was dressed in military uniform - only his third appearance in military attire at public events since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion (and his second since his previous appearance in camouflage on September 16 at the Mulino training range during the Zapad-2025 exercises).
Gerasimov began his report to Putin by stating that Russian troops continue to "carry out tasks" to seize the Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhya, and Kherson regions of Ukraine. ISW emphasizes that Gerasimov's statement effectively duplicates Putin's longstanding demand that Russia seize these four illegally annexed regions of Ukraine - which simultaneously undermines the suggestion that Russia is supposedly willing to "trade" territory in southern Ukraine for full control of the Donetsk region.
The Russian General Staff chief also claimed - "very probably untruthfully," as ISW noted - that Russian occupiers had surrounded up to 5,500 Ukrainian troops in the Pokrovsk direction and blocked a group of more than 30 Ukrainian battalions near Pokrovsk and Mirnograd. In addition, in his report to Putin, Gerasimov said that the Russian troops group Center was ordered to destroy the allegedly "encircled" Ukrainian troops near Pokrovsk and Mirnohrad. He also added that the Russians had allegedly captured more than 70 percent of Volchansk and advanced into the southern part of the city, as well as continuing urban fighting in Seversk and Konstantinovka.
Analogously, Gerasimov said that Russia's West troop grouping had allegedly encircled Kupyansk, blocking Ukrainian troops on the eastern (left) bank of the Oskol River east of Kupyansk. The chief of the Russian General Staff claimed that Russian troops had allegedly surrounded 18 Ukrainian battalions near Kupyansk. Commenting on these statements, ISW recalls that a year ago Putin similarly falsely claimed that Russian troops had allegedly surrounded 2,000 Ukrainian servicemen in the Kursk region. And later, in March 2025, the dictator claimed that Russian troops had allegedly "isolated" Ukrainian troops in Kursk Oblast and that it was "impossible" for small groups of Ukrainian troops to withdraw from positions in Kursk Oblast. However, ISW reminds us that in fact the Russians failed to encircle a significant number of Ukrainian troops during the operation to bring Kursk Oblast back under Russian control in late 2024 and early 2025, despite Putin's claims.
This time, even Russian "war correspondents" widely refuted Gerasimov's claims, ISW states. Several Russian "war correspondents" claimed that Gerasimov lied and that the occupiers had not yet managed to encircle Ukrainian forces in either Kupyansk or Pokrovsk. One of the "vovokorovs" said that a multi-kilometer corridor still exists between Russian forces west and north of Pokrovsk. Another said that Russian control over Ukrainian logistical lines does not mean that Russian troops have encircled Ukrainian Defense Forces units in the area. Some of the Russian "war correspondents" also recalled that the Ukrainian armed forces often hold positions in those localities that Russian sources claim have already allegedly been seized by Russian occupation troops. Another "military correspondent" suggested that Gerasimov was "again ahead of the curve" on events, but that reality on the ground "will soon catch up with his reports."
ISW also drew attention to the "war correspondents'" suggestion that Gerasimov's report is intended to provoke U.S. President Donald Trump to ask Russia for a "pardon" for "surrounded" Ukrainian troops and to give Trump the impression of serious Ukrainian problems on the front - similar to the purpose for which Putin claimed "surrounded" Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region in the spring of 2025. Gerasimov similarly hyperbolized the Russians' advance in late August 2025, particularly near Kupyansk, which Russian "war correspondents" also sharply criticized at the time, ISW recalled.