Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to portray himself as efficient and competent situation manager on the Ukrainian-Russian border and to shift responsibility for the ongoing challenges in responding to the Ukrainian incursion in the area to other Russian military and government officials.
This is stated in an analysis by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
The Kremlin's decision to release footage showing Putin punishing senior Russian officials is likely a warning to other Russian officials to refrain from commenting on Ukraine's invasion of Russia.
The Kremlin's decision to release video of the meeting along with the transcript of Putin's meeting with Russian officials sends a clear message to other government officials to refrain from commenting on Kremlin decision-making and operations, the Russian military and Russian security forces to repel Ukrainian forces from Russia and to mitigate related civilian problems.
On August 8, the Russian opposition publication "Verstka" reported that a source close to the Russian Federation Council's defense committee said the Russian president's administration had advised Russian lawmakers and senators not to comment on events in the Kursk region "until further notice." or discuss them as briefly as possible and refer only to official statements.
Putin and senior Russian military and security officials are likely trying to control official accounts of the situation in Kursk Oblast and prevent internal discontent that could threaten the Kremlin's stability.
Putin has delegated overlapping tasks to Russia's Ministry of Defense (MoD), Federal Security Service (FSB) and Rosgvardia in the Ukraine-Russia border region - further underscoring how Russia's Kursk Oblast force group is struggling to establish joint structures for command and control necessary to coordinate operations.
Putin has offered several assessments of Ukrainian operations in Kursk Oblast, including one that undermines the Kremlin's long-standing information operation, falsely portraying Ukraine as unwilling to engage in legitimate, good-faith negotiations and shifting the burden of peace negotiations onto Ukraine.
Ukrainian forces appear to be continuing to advance in Kursk Oblast despite recent claims by a Russian military blogger that Russian forces are stabilizing the front line in Kursk Oblast.
Regional Russian officials appear to be giving particularly candid assessments of the ongoing Ukrainian incursion.
Senior Ukrainian officials have provided an update on the ongoing Ukrainian incursion into Kursk Oblast and warned that Russian forces may stage war crimes in Kursk Oblast to discredit Ukraine and Western support for it.
It is reported that on the night of August 11-12, Ukrainian forces struck a Russian airbase in the Moscow region with an unmanned aircraft.
Russian forces have recently advanced near Volchansk, Chasov Yar, Toretsk and Pokrovsk.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) highlighted Russia's international defense ties at the International Military-Technical Forum "Army-2024" in Moscow, possibly in an effort to expand international military-technical cooperation and position strong defense relations with Russia-friendly countries.