Russian military bloggers have conceded that Ukrainian forces are pressing counterattacks around the eastern town of Lyman, with some saying Russian troops have pulled back from forward positions as the situation on that part of the front deteriorates. The admissions mark a rare public break from the Kremlin's upbeat official narrative.
One prominent blogger, who has often echoed the defence ministry's line, said Ukrainian units had been probing Russian lines near Lyman for months. He accused the military command of presenting an overly rosy picture of the frontline, a complaint echoed by several other commentators. The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) noted that Russian bloggers have criticised what they call “beautiful reports” – exaggerated or fabricated accounts of battlefield success sent up the chain of command – and argued that the practice should be “absolutely forbidden”.
Secrecy and uncertainty
Ukraine has not publicly detailed the operation, and open-source analysts say it has been conducted under tight operational secrecy. The precise scale of the counteroffensive remains unclear. ISW said it still had limited publicly available evidence to determine the full extent of Ukrainian progress, but assessed that its own mapping likely underestimated Ukrainian gains around Lyman.
The increasingly critical accounts come days after Ukrainian forces publicly disproved one of Vladimir Putin's claims about Russian advances in the area. On 1 September, Putin asserted that Russian forces controlled Sviatohirsk, a town about 15 kilometres north-west of Lyman in the Donetsk region. Russia's Defence Ministry subsequently claimed the town had been captured, but provided no credible evidence.
Six days later, Brigadier General Andrii Biletskyi, commander of Ukraine's Third Army Corps, published a video of himself in central Sviatohirsk, demonstrating that the town remained under Ukrainian control. Russian military bloggers subsequently acknowledged Ukrainian control of the town. One Kremlin-affiliated blogger said there was no credible evidence that Russian troops had captured it. ISW said a Russian source had earlier circulated archival and doctored footage purporting to show Russian control of Sviatohirsk.
The episode highlights the growing disconnect between official Russian statements and the reality on the ground, a theme that resonates across the wider European security landscape. As Ukraine continues to press its counteroffensive, European allies are watching closely, with MEPs urging the EU to tap frozen Russian assets to fund further aid. The war's ripple effects are also felt in other arenas, from record closures at Russian airports due to Ukrainian drone strikes to deadly Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities.
For now, the situation around Lyman remains fluid. Ukrainian officials have not commented on the bloggers' claims, and independent verification is difficult. But the admission from Russian sources that their forces have been pushed back – and that the command has been less than truthful – is a significant development in the information war that has accompanied the conflict since February 2022.
