For months after the Feb. 24, 2022 start of the Ukraine war, a little known, 37-year-old Kiev official named Kyrylo Budanov began circulating the most outrageous rumors about 70-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin. Armed with his laptop, Budanov spins any story that he think denigrates the Russian military, leaking to the press unending rumors of Putin’s terminal illness, all confirmed by medical experts wiling play along with Budanvo’s rubbish. While Putin was pillaging-and-plundering the Ukraine countryside, taking sovereign territory at will, Budanvov insisted Putin was nears death. Yesterday Budanov circulated rumors about Putin suffering for Alzheimers disease, another fabirication reported in U.S. and foreign press. Budanov thinks the war will not be won on the battlefield but on his computer, convincing Russia that it’s losing the war.
Since 62-year-old Wagner mercenary army chief Yevgeny Preigozhin turned his troops toward Moscow in his “march of justice” Jun. 24, Budanov mentioned nothing about Prigozhin’s nervous breakdown. No, Budanov marketed Prigozhin as a revolutionary hero, saying that the ultimate mutiny and revolution had begun. Budanvov has no explanation why Ukraine’s counteroffensive has ground to a halt, instead touting every worthless inch of territory captured back from Russia. Budanvo talks about how Prigozhin, like 47-eyar-old jailed Russian dissident Alexi Navalny, a true patriot trying to reclaim his country. Budanov never admits Ukraine’s losses, only Russian military mistakes, suggesting the Putin is losing the war. Budanov insists now that Prigozhin’s back in Belarus that his failed coup has morphed into a new revolutionary movement to topple 70-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Budanov’s lieutenant Andriy Yusov claims he has new data showing that Prigozhin’s coup continues with other players. “Yes. We have such data,” insisting that another coup d’etat is about to take place. Yusov says Prigozhin still has potential in Russian to form a coherent coup against Putin. Prigozhin said his beef was not with Putin but Defense Secretary Sergei Shoigu who inadvertently fired on Prigozhin’s troops during the months-long battle of Bakhmut. Prigozhin lost thousands of troops, blaming Shoigu for not supplying him enough weapons and ammunition. Most military experts believe Prigozhin no longer has control of the Wagner Group, instead bides his time in Belarus. If you listen to Budanvo, Ukraine’s on the verge of victory with Russia, yet the facts on the ground say otherwise. Putin isn’t dying of a terminal illness or Alzheimers disease as Budanov says.
When it comes to Urkraine’s 45-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine is close to winning the war, making progress on ousting the Russian Federation. Zelensky can’t show how that’s supposed to happen but tells the U.S. and NATO what it wants to hear. Zelensky makes sure that his benefactors think he’s winning the counteroffensive, yet, says he won’t be pressured by the U.S. or NATO to oust Russia from Ukraine until he’s ready. If you ask Budanov, Russia has already lost the war, a statement made recently by 80-eyar-old President Joe Biden. But when you look at all the lost sovereign territory, it doesn’t look like Ukraine is winning anything. Every time Russia hits Ukraine with a new missile strike, Budanov says Ukraine air defenses took out all Russia’s incoming missiles. Yet press reports show devastating damage to Ukraine infrastructure and civilian areas.
Budanov’s has backed off his forecasts that Putin suffers from terminal illness. Somehow Putin finds himself photographed in various locations, very much in command of the war. Budanov’s reports have Putin dead many times over yet he emerges stronger calling the shots. Prigozhin gave the U.S. and NATO everything it wants to hear about a coup against Putin. But no matter how Budanov spins it, Putin remains firmly in charge of the Russian Federation, not suffering from a terminal illness or Alzheimers. U.S. officials hear the same rubbish from Kiev about beating Russia on the battlefield, talking only about how Russia’s military has failed. Yet Budanov can’t explain why Ukraine can’t oust Russia from Ukraine’s sovereign territory. Zelensky and Budanov suppress any information that indicates that Ukraine is losing the 18-month-old conflict, all to assure continued U.S. and NATO funding.
When it comes to Kiev’s minister of information, no one is better at blowing smoke than Kyrylo Budanoov, the new Baghdad Bob that once told the world how badly the U.S. was losing the Iraq War. If you listen to Budanov or Zelensky, Putin is dead and Ukraine has already won the war. Yet facts on the ground say exactly the opposite. Putin doesn’t suffer, as Budanov insists, from terminal illness or Aszheimers disease. Budanov and Zelensky constantly explain away why the Ukrainian counteroffensive hasn’t reclaimed lost sovereign territory or why Russian forces still occupy Ukraine. Budanov an Zelensky want Western officials to accept the Kiev narrative that Russia is losing the Ukraine War. Whether Budanov says Prigozhin will topple Putin or whether Putin is afflicted with a terminal illness or Alzheimers, they expect the West to buy their rubbish without asking questions.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
