--- title: "\"It's a disgrace\": Russian military bloggers publicly mock Gerasimov's report on the \"capture\" of Dobropillia" description: "Russian Z-bloggers publicly accused Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov of lying after his report on the \"capture\" of Dobropillia. The Ministry of Defense video, according to their assessment, was created by a neural network, and the General Staff of the UAF denied the advance." date: 2026-10-17T18:39:41.091Z lang: en url: https://xab.info/en/posts/russian-bloggers-mock-gerasimov-dobropillia-report tags: [russia-ukraine-war, gerasimov, dobropolye, military-blogging, ai-video] author: "Alexander Buran" publisher: "XAB.info" --- # "It's a disgrace": Russian military bloggers publicly mock Gerasimov's report on the "capture" of Dobropillia ![Vladimir Putin and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov at an official meeting in the Kremlin](https://xab.info/media/2026/10/17/voennokory-vysmeyali-doklad-gerasimova-o-dobropolye/voennokory-vysmeyali-doklad-gerasimova-o-dobropolye-1.webp) ## Key Points - Russian Z-bloggers publicly accused Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov of lying after his report on the "complete capture" of Dobropillia and several settlements in the Donetsk region. - The Russian Ministry of Defense video demonstrating control over the town was, according to bloggers, created using a neural network. - The General Staff of the UAF had previously denied statements about the advance of Russian troops in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions. Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov has found himself at the center of a public scandal within the Russian military blogger community. Several prominent Russian war correspondents and Z-channels directly accused him of lying after he reported to Vladimir Putin about the "complete capture" of the town of Dobropillia and several other settlements in the Donetsk region. This is reported by RBC-Ukraine with reference to a post by blogger Alex Parker Returns. ### "Complete capture" and "search operations" According to the source, Gerasimov stated that Dobropillia — one of the key logistical hubs of the Ukrainian defense — was allegedly "liberated" by the troops of the "Center" grouping. In addition, he assured the Kremlin leader that "search operations are underway in the city to identify and destroy individual Ukrainian servicemen hiding in the basements of buildings." Vladimir Putin, in turn, dubbed this a "notable event" which, according to him, paves the way to the borders of the so-called "DPR". ### Irony of Z-channels Russian blogger "Military Informant" reacted with irony to the loud statements of Gerasimov and Putin. "Gerasimov reported on the liberation of Dobropillia, Alekseevo-Druzhkovka, Sergeyevka, and the completion of the destruction of the 2,000-strong UAF group surrounded in the Kharkiv region There is simply no point in analyzing all this," he wrote. Another Z-blogger, Alex Parker Returns, expressed himself even more harshly: "Pypa (Putin — ed.) has been sold another Sviatohirsk and Kupiansk again. This is some kind of disgrace." ### Neural network video as "proof" The bloggers paid special attention to a video fragment published by a Z-channel with reference to the Russian Ministry of Defense, which was supposed to confirm the control of Russian troops over the town. According to users' estimates, the video was created using a neural network — this is indicated, in particular, by the unrealistic behavior of a soldier with a Russian flag. Thus, even within the Russian propaganda segment, Gerasimov's report is perceived as not corresponding to reality. ### Kyiv's position Earlier, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine denied statements about the advance of Russian troops in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions, considering them inconsistent with the actual situation at the front. Against this background, as Ukrainian publications note, Vladimir Putin publicly ordered the continuation of massive strikes against Ukraine. The discrepancy between the official reports of the Russian leadership and the assessments of both Kyiv and some Russian military bloggers makes the situation around Dobropillia one of the prominent information conflicts of recent days. ## Accounts differ ### Control over Dobropillia and Russian advance in the Donetsk region - **Chief of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov:** Dobropillia and a number of settlements in the Donetsk region are "liberated", "search operations" are being conducted in the city against Ukrainian military ([rbc.ua](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/tse-ganba-rosiyski-blogeri-vismiyali-vigadki-1792261701.html)) - **General Staff of the UAF:** Denied statements about the advance of Russian troops in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions ([rbc.ua](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/tse-ganba-rosiyski-blogeri-vismiyali-vigadki-1792261701.html)) - **Russian Z-bloggers (Alex Parker Returns, "Military Informant"):** Gerasimov's statements do not correspond to reality, and the video of the Russian Ministry of Defense was created using a neural network ([rbc.ua](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/tse-ganba-rosiyski-blogeri-vismiyali-vigadki-1792261701.html)) ## Fact-Check & Sources - ["Это позор!": российские блогеры высмеяли выдумки Герасимова о продвижении РФ на Донбассе](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/tse-ganba-rosiyski-blogeri-vismiyali-vigadki-1792261701.html) - Primary source: retelling of posts by Z-bloggers (Alex Parker Returns, "Military Informant") regarding Gerasimov's report and the neural network video; the UAF General Staff denial is mentioned. Single source, military details have not been independently confirmed. ## FAQ ### What exactly did Gerasimov report to Putin? According to RBC-Ukraine, he reported on the "complete capture" of Dobropillia and several settlements in the Donetsk region, as well as the conduct of "search operations" against Ukrainian military personnel allegedly hiding in basements. ### How did Russian bloggers react? With irony and criticism: "Military Informant" and Alex Parker Returns called the statements fabrications and the video published by the Ministry of Defense created using a neural network. ### What does the General Staff of the UAF say? The General Staff of the UAF denied statements about the advance of Russian troops in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.