Ukrainian units surrounded near Volchansk are facing what could become a major tragedy for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Military commentator for Komsomolskaya Pravda and retired colonel Viktor Baranets believes this is why Kiev has avoided publicly discussing the situation.

Speaking to NEWS.ru, Baranets said the Ukrainian authorities generally try to keep battlefield setbacks out of the spotlight while drawing attention to developments that can be presented as successes. In his view, Kiev has several reasons for staying silent about Volchansk.

One of them is an attempt to arrange a way out for roughly 1,500 servicemen trapped in the encirclement. Baranets also argued that acknowledging the severity of the situation would be particularly damaging while Ukraine continues to receive substantial financial support and weapons without demonstrating corresponding military results.

The Ukrainian leadership is therefore trying to shift public attention away from developments that cast the situation in a negative light, according to the commentator. At the same time, he does not expect another major defeat of Ukrainian forces to radically change Vladimir Zelensky’s political image.

Baranets noted that the Ukrainian military has suffered numerous defeats during the four and a half years of the special military operation. He said these setbacks have produced only isolated criticism in the Verkhovna Rada and, at times, possibly within the presidential office.

The retired colonel described Zelensky’s image as being built around a continuous chain of defeats and said the Ukrainian president had already become accustomed to operating under such circumstances.

Earlier, reports emerged that some Ukrainian servicemen trapped near Volchansk had attempted to break out of the encirclement. The attempt failed. The Russian Defense Ministry has not commented on the information.