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Russian War Bloggers Accuse General Staff Head Gerasimov of Misleading Putin About Kupiansk
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![Photo of Vlad Litnarovych]( "Photo of Vlad Litnarovych")
Russian pro-war military bloggers are openly accusing Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian General Staff, of giving Russian leader Vladimir Putin a misleading battlefield report about the situation in Kupiansk, according to Russian media outlet The Moscow Times on November 21.
A day earlier, Gerasimov told Putin that Russian forces had taken full control of the city — a claim Ukrainian officials immediately rejected.
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Several influential Z-channels, including “Voennyi Osvedomitel,” criticized the announcement, suggesting the top general had dramatically overstated the results. One prominent channel argued that the declaration of a “complete liberation” of Kupiansk looked like “racing ahead of the train,” adding, “Where the 18 Ukrainian battalions previously declared ‘encircled’ in Kupiansk disappeared to is unknown.”
Another channel said Gerasimov “once again painted a picture of victory” for Putin, referring both to Pokrovsk and Kupiansk, and called the claim that roughly 15 Ukrainian battalions had been “blocked” near Kupiansk-Uzlovyi “shocking.”
A channel close to Russia’s Defense Ministry, known for its hardline commentary, was even more blunt, dismissing the reports of Kupiansk’s capture as “smoke and mirrors.”
The author complained that for weeks the Russian military has issued “victorious” briefings delivered by “men in spotless camouflage reading from a page,” many of which were later disproven by Ukrainian footage and battlefield evidence—something, they argued, that has “played into the enemy’s hands.”
Ukrainian SSO clearing the Orcs from the city of Kupiansk: pic.twitter.com/TO2mKXRiDg
— Doves Of Freedom (@DovesOfFreedom) November 15, 2025
Another military-focused channel, “Dva Mayora,” reacted more cautiously, noting only that Gerasimov’s statement had not been backed by any objective verification materials.
Earlier, reports emerged that Russia pulled in elite paratrooper reserves from its 76th Air Assault Division to reinforce its offensive toward Pokrovsk.
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-72b63a4e0c8c475ad81fe3eed3f63729.jpeg "Photo of Cyril Barabaltchouk")