Putin announced the capture of the non-existent city of Komsomolsk, pointing to Horyshni Plavni

On October 11, 2023, the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, in his speech announced the "liberation" of the city of Komsomolsk, emphasizing that the Russian army is conducting military operations in this settlement. However, this city does not exist on the map of Donetsk Oblast, and it is likely referring to Horyshni Plavni in the Poltava region, which was called Komsomolsk until 2016.

In the context of his statements, Putin claimed that Russian troops had already "liberated" a significant number of buildings in Komsomolsk and that the offensiveness of operations is increasing. Ukrainian media emphasize that such statements from the President of the Russian Federation raise great surprise due to the lack of factual confirmation of information about military actions.

What is really happening?

According to information coming from the front, there are actually no fights taking place for Komsomolsk. It was renamed to Horyshni Plavni in connection with de-communization in Ukraine, which became part of a broader law that prohibits the use of Soviet symbols and names. None of the military experts have been able to confirm that the efforts of Russian forces in this region are related to the mentioned city, and most analysts believe that Putin has mixed up concepts and tried to boast about the "successes" of the Russian military.

Comments from military analysts

Military analysts believe that Putin may have been trying to talk about the city of Kostiantynivka, but even this assumption raises major doubts. The lack of accurate data indicates that the Kremlin's information campaign is failing, as local residents do not report military actions in the mentioned settlements.

Thus, it becomes evident that Vladimir Putin not only misunderstands the situation at the front but also misleads both the society of his country and the international community by claiming "successes" of the Russian military in a non-existent city.

This underscores both internal tensions in Russia and the ineffectiveness of military strategy in Ukraine.