Thread by @ChrisO_wiki

1/ How does a false report that Kupyansk has been captured by Russia come to be delivered on camera to Vladimir Putin? A Russian warblogger blames a military reporting process that prizes low-value metrics, rewards blind optimism, and eliminates nuance. ⬇️

https://x.com/GloOouD/status/1999761872099127536

2/ 'ZINOVSKY' writes:

"The transfer of operational information from the bottom up in the Russian Ministry of Defence and the Russian Armed Forces is accompanied by a consistent transformation of the initial data as it moves up the chain of command."

3/ "This process is not a system, but an established practice and is based on stable semantic and organisational mechanisms.

At the level of a motorised rifle/airborne/assault platoon, initial observations are recorded in formulations that imply the completion of the action.

4/ "Expressions like "reporting the occupation of positions" in their meaning denote the establishment of control, although in fact they can only reflect either the fact of a short-term presence or simply that the report was sent on time.

5/ "Visual markers—planting a flag, putting a point on operational maps, tactical georeferencing via GLONASS/GPS—act as indices of the commander's personal success, reinforcing the significance of the report without any indication of the stability of control.

6/ "At the company and battalion levels, reports are aggregated and subject to semantic smoothing. Direct descriptions of uncertainty are replaced with euphemisms like "clearance completed" or "forward progress."

7/ "These formulas shift the emphasis from the actual tactical situation to the illusion of the unit's effectiveness in combat and order execution. Silence regarding enemy proximity or instability helps maintain the impression of consistent combat mission execution for superiors.

8/ "At the regimental and brigade levels, information is presented in the form of summaries, where the verbal construction of reports and dispatches is complemented by striking visual elements—maps, colour charts, videos, and presentations.

9/ "Terms like "liberation of a populated area" expand their meaning through associations with "strategic success," even with only fragmentary control of territory on the front lines.

10/ "The absence of references to "no man's land" maintains unambiguous interpretation for higher command.

11/ "Further consolidation of data occurs at divisional and army headquarters. Formulas like "control established along the line" integrate disparate information into a unified operational picture.

12/ "The use of metrics—area, numbers, length, or the now fashionable "number of buildings"—strengthens the credibility of reports, masking the variability of the situation and emphasising compliance with planned indicators.

13/ "At the level of troop groups and the General Staff, reports are finally standardised. For reports to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief [i.e. Putin], absolute constructs are used—"complete liberation," "mission accomplished."

14/ "These formulas act like incantations, shaping a desired picture of the theatre of operations and displacing the actual dynamics of combat operations beyond the official narrative.

15/ "Events in the Kupyansk region clearly demonstrate this mechanism. Previous declarations of the city's liberation, based on reports from above, clashed with the situation on the ground, where the Ukrainian Armed Forces partially regained their positions in several…

16/ …neighbourhoods of the city and adjacent villages. The discrepancy between the term "liberation" and the actual situation reveals how, within hierarchical military information channels, the substitution of meanings influences strategic decisions.

17/ "As a result, the established practice ensures formal control over troops and disciplinary integrity in the execution of simulated orders, but at the same time, quite logically, produces simulated distortions that require subsequent correction on the battlefield—…

18/ …the need to go and sacrifice soldiers to recapture positions that have already been published at the top as a success.

19/ "This increases the command's dependence on verification of the content of victory reports from below and highlights the structural vulnerability of the hierarchical military narrative, even in the context of a sluggish positional war."

Source:
t.me/zimovskyAL/397…