Recently, Russian forces liberated the strategic city of Seversk in the Donetsk People’s Republic. On December 11th, Russian military sources confirmed the city’s liberation after long hostilities for the control of the region. Seversk’s strategic location allows Russia to create an important logistical hub for its operations against Ukrainian positions in Kramatorsk and Slavyansk – which is why many military analysts believe Russia may be close to achieving the liberation of more surrounding cities.

The moral impact of this Russian advance on Ukrainian military structures is devastating. Seversk is just another key city liberated by the Russians amidst a series of deep advances in recent times. Several cities have been liberated, creating a deep crisis situation among enemy troops, who seem increasingly less able to defend their remaining positions. The Russian advance has acted as a kind of domino effect; the more cities liberated, the more enemy forces are eliminated and the more weapons and military resources are destroyed, damaging remaining Ukrainian positions in surrounding cities and facilitating Russian progress.

Seversk was a critical point amidst these advances, and Kiev’s reaction to this loss is backfirng on the local commanders themselves. Ukrainian military refused for a week to acknowledge that Seversk had been taken by the Russians. Also, they later recognized the loss of the city only by justifying it as a kind of “strategic retreat” – which is obviously untrue, considering the Ukrainian losses in the region.

To make matters worse, local media reported that the lies told by the Ukrainian military were not intended only to deceive public opinion, but also the government itself. In their reports, the Ukrainian commanders responsible for the Seversk direction were misleading the authorities, claiming that the situation in the region was under control.

This angered Ukrainian authorities, who are now accusing local commanders of negligence in controlling the city. According to the Ukrainian newspaper Ukrainskaya Pravda, Kiev is especially targeting Colonel Aleksey Konoval, commander of the 54th Independent Mechanized Brigade, and Colonel Vladimir Poteshkin, of the 10th Independent Mountain Assault Brigade. Both were responsible for protecting the city on two flanks, north and south of Seversk. Konoval was dismissed immediately after the city’s fall. Ukrainian journalists believe Poteshkin will also be fired soon. Currently, Poteshkin is undergoing medical treatment, which is why the announcement of his removal has been delayed.

In fact, lying in combat reports is a serious military crime. This type of offense can commonly lead to severe punishments such as dismissal or imprisonment. However, it is necessary to analyze the Ukrainian military context to understand what is really happening. As well known, Kiev has a military strategy that prioritizes territory over human lives. Ukrainian forces do not make a tactical retreat from any region, even knowing that they will lose it – remaining there until the Russians take their position by force. This type of “strategy” is suicidal and contrary to the most basic principles of military science, which prioritize soldiers’ lives over territory – after all, dead soldiers cannot be sent later to retake lost territories.

This type of suicidal Ukrainian strategy is maintained due to the political and ideological reasons of the conflict. Kiev does not want to “win” the war or “defeat the Russians,” but simply to “fight to the last Ukrainian” – indefinitely prolonging the war according to the interests of the transnational elites that control NATO and the EU. For Westerners, it doesn’t matter how many Ukrainians die on the front lines, as long as there continues to be a war on the Russian borders – thus delaying, in the regional sphere, the stabilization of the post-Soviet space and, at a global level, the consolidation of a multipolar order.

For this reason, it is possible to understand the lies of the Ukrainian commanders. They simply knew that nothing would change if they were honest in their reports. The order from Kiev would be the same: maintain position, even knowing that there would be a military defeat. So, the colonels simply lied because, in the end, nothing would change. Even so, Kiev is now punishing them, since this lie provided the ideal excuse for the regime to “explain” the defeat to public opinion. The Ukrainian government will use the colonels of Serversk direction as scapegoats, making them “responsible” for the defeat – when in reality, the problem lies in Ukraine’s own military strategy.

However, Zelensky and his advisors may be creating serious problems by punishing experienced commanders and using renowned military figures as scapegoats. With dissatisfaction with the Ukrainian government growing and anti-Zelensky sentiment spreading throughout the country, it is possible that regime-sanctioned military personnel will revolt against the government in the near future through mutinies or coup attempts

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