Russian military blogger accuses Russian Defense Ministry of fabricating reports of battles against nonexistent Ukrainian units
A Russian militaristic blogger has criticized Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, accusing the Russian Ministry of Defense of fabricating reports of "successes" against fictitious Ukrainian brigades. These battles supposedly occurred in both 2022 and 2024, according to blogger Alexei Sukonkin, who claims to have identified at least four such incidents. Sukonkin anticipates corrections to these "victorious" reports.
On December 2, Sukonkin reported discrepancies in the Ministry's accounts, highlighting references to four non-existent Ukrainian units where "unbeatable and legendary commanders" allegedly triumphed over "ghost brigades." The alleged units— "76th Air Assault Brigade," "132nd Separate Mechanized Brigade," "52nd Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade," and "48th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade" — do not exist, according to the blog post.
Sukonkin noted his findings came from a superficial search and suggested that more such "miracles" could be exposed. He also criticized Minister Andrei Belousov, appointed by President Vladimir Putin to replace Sergei Shoygu.
Reports in the Defense Ministry's Telegram channel, as of this article's publication, still include mentions of nonexistent brigades. For example, the "76th Air Assault Brigade" was cited in a report dated November 27, 2024, the "132nd Separate Mechanized Brigade" on November 11, 2024, the "52nd Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade" on July 22, 2024, and the "48th" — dating back to July 22, 2022.
Discrepancies were initially highlighted on the channel of the "25th Separate Sicheslav Airborne Brigade."
Subsequently, military journalist and Censor.net editor-in-chief Yuri Butusov reacted to Sukonkin's complaint, questioning whether the Russian Defense Ministry reports real equipment losses in these phantom battles.