The worded statements emerging from the Kremlin’s closest allies usually exude a funny sort of calmness. But it actually belies a sustained, feigned attempt to appear confident on the international scene even as events unfold. In actual fact, it’s happened in a much different way. On the battlefield, it looks much less like how they had planned it to be in their planning rooms.
In Russia, the progress of a major event like this is usually guided by such a constant feedback loop. Russians are used to picking up on volumes of information to retain a sense of awareness of what’s going on. If left unbroken, it helps to guide public opinion in the right direction. It benefits the powers that be because this is a model for a public relations strategy that they can use.
The education in schools that supports the military elite is replete with the ideas that people should always have in mind. It doesn’t matter to begin with that casualty numbers rise, and later, it looks to be a sacrifice that can always be understood in context. In this way it confirms a bias that continues to drive forward the desire of Moscow’s leadership for total control.