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‘We could lose’: Russian state TV commentators gloomy over Kursk

“Signs of pessimism” about the Russian response to Ukraine’s cross-border invasion in Kursk have started to emerge on Russian state TV, according to footage posted on social media.

The invasion seemed to catch Vladimir Putin unprepared, with a major retaliation yet to materialise and Russian forces struggling to stop Ukrainian advances.

Some pro-Kremlin military bloggers and Russian commentators have claimed that Russian forces are pushing back Ukrainian troops – but in one clip posted by BBC journalist Francis Scarr, “signs of pessimism have emerged” – on channels that tend to engage exclusively in cheerleading for the country’s military prospects.

Filmmaker and state pundit Karen Shakhnazarov said: “We could lose if such blunders continue. And this isn’t defeatism, it isn’t scaremongering.”