03.10.2026 16:03
Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin claimed that in September, Russian troops seized more than 1,300 km² of Ukrainian territory; however, these claims differ significantly from the actual data on the situation at the front.
This is reported by the ISW (Institute for the Study of War), according to Ukrinform.
Infographic: ISW
Analysts drew attention to Putin’s statement on October 1 during a meeting of the Valdai Club. He claimed that in September 2026 alone, Russian troops seized 1,301 km² of Ukrainian territory—2.5 times more than Russia’s claimed territorial gains in previous months.
At the same time, the ISW analyzed the available evidence and concluded that in September 2026, Russian forces suffered net territorial losses of 80.81 km². And if one also takes into account the Russian troops’ advances into areas over which they have not established full control, Russia’s net territorial losses in September amounted to 175.18 km², analysts note.
“Putin’s absurd statements continue to paint a fabricated picture of the fighting, supporting the Kremlin’s cognitive warfare aimed at falsely portraying the Russian offensive as large-scale across the entire battlefield,” the analysts write.
The ISW notes that it cannot assess whether Putin is aware of the inaccuracy of the figures he cites or whether he simply accepts the fabricated data on the course of hostilities provided to him by the Russian military leadership—data that is fed to him through a culture of deception deeply ingrained in the Russian military command structure.
However, the analysts state that Putin’s claims about the successes of Russian troops on the front lines in September 2026 are so far removed from reality that they more closely resemble hallucinations.
As reported by Ukrinform, on August 23, 2026, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that 820 km² of Ukrainian territory had been returned to Ukrainian control since the beginning of the year. He also emphasized that, as of that moment, Russia had occupied 990 km² since the start of the year and that Ukraine expects to reach parity in terms of territory by the end of the year.
(C)UKRINFORM 2026
TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH: RUSSIA LOST 1301 KM2 IN SEPTEMBER.
I don’t believe either side when it comes to territorial gains and killed soldiers. The first victim in a war is always the truth.
A bit off topic, sorry.
Russia’s new Shturm uncrewed tank failed in its first major outing, losing its control link again and again during the Tsentr-2026 strategic exercise and finally getting stuck in mud, even with a human driver at the controls.
The remotely operated vehicle, built on a T-72 tank chassis, repeatedly dropped the radio link that connects it to its separate control vehicle during the drills at the Chebarkul training range in Russia’s Chelyabinsk region, Russian sources said. For the demonstration in front of President Vladimir Putin, the tank was not driven remotely at all. A crew driver-mechanic took the controls because of fears of a technical failure.
Even that did not save the show. A photo from the exercise shows the Shturm tilted nose-down in a muddy ditch beside a dirt track, its tracks and front hull sunk into the soil.
I’ll take ISW’s words over the professional liars’ any day of the week. The cockroaches can draw all the fake lines with their crayons as they want. This never changes reality.