concern for the Deep State map, a precious mirror of the conflict

The front line had appeared frozen since December 21. This does not reflect the reality of the fighting, the Russians advancing around fifteen square kilometers per day in the Donbass, but the Deep State geolocalized map which has produced valuable information on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict since the start of the war, n was not updated for more than 48 hours, before an update this Tuesday, December 24 at midday. Previously, the Ukrainian OSINT (open source research, editor's note) team fed its Telegram channel and its precious map of sourced, authenticated and geolocated information daily and even several times a day. We could thus follow the progress of military operations, almost meter by meter, with a scrupulous description of the assaults of each camp. Deep State has never hidden being on the side of Ukraine, its country for which it fights, but has never indulged in war propaganda: its rigor has made it a reference. All conflict analysts – up to the military personnel in the general staffs – carefully examine every day the areas in red or blue which represent the changes of the last 24 hours.

Radio silence or almost, however, in recent days. Not quite, however. In a message with a worried tone, the Deep State team implicitly acknowledged, Monday, December 23, pressure from the Ukrainian command. “We have always worked and made maximum efforts for victory, and helped our soldiers and our country. This is why we have a reputation of steel and the trust of society but especially of the military, writes the team on its Telegram channel. This is also why we maintain the most famous map of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict not only in Ukraine but also in the world. Unfortunately, not all commanders in chief like the truth, and that’s a shame.” A direct criticism of the general at the head of the Ukrainian forces, Oleksandr Syrsky.

“The General Staff has its own truth about the 'controlled' military situation”

A deputy in the Ukrainian Rada, Maryana Bezugla, who recently declared in the Ukrainian press that she was “civilian democratic control necessary in times of war”came to Deep State's aid and made some assumptions about the card's suspension. “Syrsky, instead of stabilizing the defense, launched an attack on the DeepState team – the last bastion of more or less accurate information on the front line”belches the parliamentarian, member of Volodymyr Zelensky's party, “Servant of the people”which evokes the hypothesis – not confirmed – of a «mobilisation» members of the Deep State team “in the infantry”the launch of an investigation by the SBU (the state security service) and “all kinds of discredits” brought against the OSINT project. “The General Staff has its own truth about the 'controlled' military situation”quips Maryana Bezugla who declares that she has “enough” of the “false reports”.

“Every day, it is almost the only source of information to understand what is happening, both for civilians and for the military”greeted the Ukrainian MP who spoke directly to President Zelensky: “Volodymyr Oleksandrovich, then where are we going?”. Deep State's concern reveals the feverishness of the Ukrainian authorities, who are facing increasingly strong criticism of the military command's management of the conflict, particularly in terms of human resources. Even if the Ukrainian defense does not collapse, the tactical situation is deteriorating day by day, particularly in the Donetsk oblast, where the Russians are advancing inside four cities (Toretsk, Chasiv Yar, Kurakhove, Velyka Novossilka ) and are only two kilometers from Pokrovsk, a key logistics node in Donbass, and from Kupiansk, further north. The Ukrainian salient at Kursk, Russia, has also been reduced by half since the end of August, going from more than 1,000 km2 to less than 500 km2.

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Above all, the Ukrainians lack men on the ground, with desertions on the rise (around 5,000 per month, according to figures from the Ministry of Justice), contested mobilization, training that is too brief and new units dismembered in an attempt to make up for losses on the front. Every day, Deep State presents itself as a painful mirror of this difficult reality for kyiv. “I’m shocked”wrote on X Julian Röpcke, the specialist in military issues at the German newspaper Bildwhich uses the cards of this “volunteer open source community”. “Ukraine will certainly not win the war by silencing its citizens”concludes the journalist.