# After Putin's bungled invasion, Russian state media still ran a now-deleted victory article
An article celebrating Putin's invasion reads like a new world order manifesto, complete with the restoration of the Soviet Union, ran on Ria.ru. Then, it disappeared. You can read it here.

Hoaxlines • Feb 28, 2022 (published on Mar 3)

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An [article](https://archive.ph/JWixV) published on [RIA NOVOSTI](http://ria.ru/), [Russian state-controlled](https://clintwatts.substack.com/p/russias-propaganda-and-disinformation?s=r) media, assumed a world where Putin’s invasion and attack on Ukraine went differently—one where he took the country in mere days. Instead, the Russian military has suffered [heavy losses](https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/02/politics/us-russia-ukraine-civilians-warning/index.html), performed poorly according to [military experts](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/01/briefing/russia-invasion-ukraine-fighting.html) with its [elementary](https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-soldiers-loot-ukraine/31732450.html) failures, although it continues to advance at a high price.


Although Russia and Ukraine counts differ significantly, Hoaxlines’ discussion with OSINT researchers suggests higher estimates are accurate.

Quickly, the article was [deleted](https://ria.ru/20220226/rossiya-1775162336.html), but an [archived version](https://archive.ph/JWixV) can still be found. The now-deleted article likely depicts how Russia thought this invasion would transpire and how it would spin the situation domestically. Putting out its preferred narrative immediately following an event is a tactic that disinformation researchers have come to expect from the Kremlin.

Immediately following the [assassination](https://www.state.gov/honoring-boris-nemtsov-on-the-seventh-anniversary-of-his-murder/) of Boris Nemtsov, the former Russian Deputy Prime Minister, anti-corruption activist, and physicist, pro-Kremlin [accounts](https://gyazo.com/ee434725632548dec2ddb621af02f42a) began [pushing the claim](https://globalvoices.org/2015/04/02/analyzing-kremlin-twitter-bots/) that his Ukrainian girlfriend had killed him. When British Prime Minister Theresa May [openly accused](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/06/disinformation-russian-trolls-twitter-facebook-election-2018/) Russia of involvement in the Skripal murder, she faced an attack by cyber troops. In this case, the prescripted content may tell us more about Putin’s plans and the stories he will tell to hide his crimes from the world.


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###### tags: `Hoaxlines` `Ukraine` `disinformation`