A Russian politician and former army officer has called on top officials in the government to 'stop lying' to the public over their invasion of Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine is not going well at all and now his own politicians are admitting on state TV that Russia is trying to cover up serious problems with how it's going.
Russian MP and former army officer Andrey Kartapolov told propagandist Vladimir Solovyov live on TV that 'the lying has to stop' as telling the public the war is going one way and them discovering it's untrue is dangerous.
Kartapolov, head of the Duma's defence committee, warned that attempting to keep the news of Russian failure away from the public could be a bad idea for Putin's regime, saying it 'may lead to a loss of trust'.
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He argued that the Russian people were finding out the truth of Ukraine's successes on the battlefield from the Telegram messaging app, with the news of the war a contrast to the messages they were getting from official state media.
Kartapolov also hit out at the lack of supplies available to Russian troops, claiming there wasn't enough kit for the troops recently mobilised into the war.
He said Russia 'could call up any number we want' in terms of new troops, but said that was 'not the point' if they couldn't 'supply and equip' soldiers for their invasion.
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That loss of trust might already have happened considering the numerous protests in Russia against mobilisation while thousands of people have fled the country to avoid being dragged into Putin's invasion.
Meanwhile, some of those troops who have been conscripted have asked Ukraine how they can surrender as easily as possible, while others have been complaining that they've been given 'rusty' weapons.
Painting a grim picture of a lack of supplies and equipment for Russian troops already trying to invade Ukraine, let alone many more called up to fight, Kartapolov was asked: "How are we supposed to win?"
He said that without enough weapons to win the war a Russian victory would require 'wholehearted faith in the motherland, in our commanders', which is probably not what the hundreds of thousands of reservists called up would want to hear.
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Russia's invasion is going badly as they are losing towns taken in the early days of the invasion following a highly effective series of counter-attacks from Ukrainian forces.
Military experts have said the momentum in the conflict is currently with Ukraine as they retake their territory seized in the early days of the Russian invasion.
The bridge between Russian-held territory in mainland Ukraine and Crimea recently partially collapsed after a massive explosion destroyed a chunk of it, damaging a key line of supply in an area of Russian occupation.
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If you would like to donate to the Red Cross Emergency Appeal, which will help provide food, medicines and basic medical supplies, shelter and water to those in Ukraine, click here for more information
Topics: Russia, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin, News, World News
Joe Harker