OPINION:
The Soviet Union was defeated in its war of aggression in Afghanistan (1979-1989) because the people said the 14,453 Soviet soldiers killed and the 54,000 wounded and missing were intolerable.
Receiving body bags for the fallen troops had a profound psychological and political impact on the people. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev called it a “bleeding wound.”
As Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine enters its fifth year, with more than 325,000 Russian soldiers killed and total casualties (killed, wounded and missing) surpassing 1.2 million, Russian leader Vladimir Putin persists, discarding President Trump’s efforts to end this bloody war.
Mr. Putin, aware of the public outcry during the war in Afghanistan, has controlled media coverage of the war in Ukraine. Casualty figures are rarely released, and independent reporting about military losses is restricted. Moreover, casualty figures are heavier for the poorer regions of Russia (Siberia, Caucasus). Thus, the war’s human cost is less visible in cities such as Moscow or St. Petersburg.
The cost of the war, in terms of lives lost and military expenditures, and the hundreds of thousands of young men leaving Russia, resulting in skilled labor shortages, should have a material impact on Russian politics, as it did in Afghanistan.
The difference is that the political system in Russia today is more tightly controlled, with government control of the media and limited information available to the public about Russian losses in Ukraine.
Russia designated Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty as “undesirable organizations” in 2024, making it illegal to operate or distribute their content within Russia. The Russian government had a full court press to ensure that the Russian people would not be exposed to what was happening in Ukraine, especially the steep casualty figures for the Russian troops killed or maimed during this war with no apparent end, because of Mr. Putin’s intransigence.
We should take a page out of President Reagan’s playbook during the Afghanistan war and get information to the people in Russia who are being denied access to the truth and what is happening with the war in Ukraine.
Truthful information pertaining to the casualties suffered by Russian troops and comparable figures for casualties of Ukrainian troops. Indeed, truthful information about efforts made to end this war peacefully and Mr. Putin’s obstinacy and disregard for the casualties suffered by the Russian troops and the anguish of the families in Russia.
Fortunately, some information about the war in Ukraine is getting into Russia. Occasional YouTube and social media content is getting into Russia, as are virtual private network users and some satellite rebroadcasts. Still, that’s only a fraction of what the Russian people need to know.
It’s obvious that we need a full court press to get timely information into Russia. The Russian government will continue to do its best to deny this information to the people, knowing that the power of information on the war in Ukraine will have an impact on the political end of the fighting and suffering in Ukraine.
When we also look at what governments in Iran, North Korea and China are doing to deny their people access to truthful domestic and international news, it’s obvious that, if we care, we will have to do a better job of getting timely information into these countries.
Countering the disinformation that Russia, China, Iran and North Korea are disseminating in the U.S. is necessary, as is ensuring that the U.S. uses the tools available to disseminate truthful news to these countries.
• The author is a former associate director of national intelligence. All statements of fact, opinion or analysis expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official positions or views of the U.S. government. Nothing in the contents should be construed as asserting or implying U.S. government authentication of information or endorsement of the author’s views.
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