Day: December 18, 2025

The post x.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/…Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews)Another gem from my archives: on January 31, 2022, state TV mocked US first appeared on October Surprise 2016 – octobersurprise2016.org.

The post first appeared on October Surprise 2016 – octobersurprise2016.org.

Saudi Arabia proposes to host WTO meeting in 2028  reut.rs/4aooOwD  reut.rs/4aooOwD

— Reuters (@Reuters) Dec 19, 2025

MORE: Putin continued to exaggerate Russian successes, alleging that Russian forces had seized Siversk. ISW has only observed evidence to assess that Russian forces have seized about 77 percent of Siversk. Gerasimov also claimed during a December 18 briefing for foreign military attachés that Russian forces have seized Kupyansk (despite mounting evidence of Ukrainian forces liberating a significant portion of the town) and control 50 percent of Kostyantynivka.

ISW has not observed evidence or even claims of Russian advances in Kostyantynivka close to Gerasimov’s figure. ISW has observed evidence that Russian forces have seized only 1.6 percent of Kostyantynivka, while maintaining a presence within only five percent of the town (either through infiltration missions or assaults). Even Russian milbloggers’ maximalist claims about Russian advances are not as extensive as Gerasimov’s, with milbloggers claiming that Russian forces have seized only about 11 percent of the town.

Gerasimov’s and Belousov’s exaggerated claims actually demonstrate the slow pace of Russian advances and undermine the Kremlin’s ongoing cognitive warfare effort to portray a Russian battlefield victory in Ukraine and the collapse of Ukrainian defenses as inevitable.Institute for the Study of War (@TheStudyofWar)NEW: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Chief of the General Staff Army General Valery Gerasimov continue to publicly demonstrate their commitment to achieving Russia’s original war aims while exaggerating Russian battlefield gains. (1/3)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky continues to signal his commitment to negotiations as high-ranking Kremlin officials continue to publicly and explicitly reject significant points of the peace plan currently under discussion.

Ukrainian forces recently advanced near Siversk and Pokrovsk. Russian forces recently advanced near Hulyaipole and in the Kostyantynivka-Druzhkivka tactical area.—  https://x.com/TheStudyofWar/status/2001842164620214637

— Institute for the Study of War (@TheStudyofWar) Dec 19, 2025

The post first appeared on October Surprise 2016 – octobersurprise2016.org.

x.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/…Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews)Another gem from my archives: on January 31, 2022, state TV mocked US Defense officials for predicting that Russia will use ballistic missiles against Ukraine. State TV host Olga Skabeeva asked how many minutes it will take for Russia to defeat Ukraine.
youtube.com/watch?v=bZ68bY_U…—  https://x.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/2001837143497506819

— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) Dec 19, 2025