Free Republic

Moscow for the first time openly recognizes a defeat since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, in February 2022. Kremlin officials and state media propagandists are extensively discussing the reasons for the Russian defeat in Kharkiv Oblast, informs the Institute for the Study of War. The Kremlin never admitted that Russia was defeated around Kyiv or, later, at Snake Island, framing the retreat from Kyiv as a decision to prioritize the «liberation» of Donbas and the withdrawal from Snake Island as a «gesture of goodwill». The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) originally offered a similar explanation for the Russian...