You can normally expect Russian state TV’s flagship weekly news programme to trumpet Kremlin successes.
But yesterday’s edition opened with a rare admission.
“On the frontlines of the special operation [in Ukraine], this has been the toughest week so far,” declared sombre-looking anchor Dmitry Kiselev.
“It was particularly tough along the Kharkiv front, where following an onslaught by enemy forces that outnumbered ours, [Russian] troops were forced to leave towns they had previously liberated.”
#Ukraine: A Russian Su-25[SM] CAS jet crashed shortly after takeoff and was destroyed. This is claimed to have occured recently in Crimea, but so far the precise date and location is unclear. pic.twitter.com/44V2M9lxib
— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) September 12, 2022
