State TV reveals the strain on Russia’s military as Moscow prepares civilians, schools, and industry for decades of conflict
Eastwest Skytalets
August 7, 2026
Vladimir Solovyov, Putin’s most prominent propagandist on Moscow’s state-run television, admitted live on national TV something that has drawn the attention of the entire world.
Solovyov admitted that the war which has been going on in Ukraine for more than four years has put very heavy pressure on the combat capacity of the Russian armed forces.
This war has stretched Russia’s military power, resources and readiness to a level that perhaps no one had even imagined before.
He said that Russia is now facing a “new type of war” for which its army, military doctrine and strategic planners were not fully prepared.
Solovyov directly appealed to the citizens, saying that ordinary Russians will now have to step forward to keep the war effort going.
According to him, the army does not need only weapons, but also deep involvement of civilian resources and years of national sacrifice.
It is being suggested that private and state companies should be fully taken under state control and forced into military production to greatly increase the production of modern weapons.
The revelation of such bitter truths by the Kremlin’s top propagandists is part of a well-planned defensive strategy.
Vladimir Putin’s regime always works on one main principle: Putin is never responsible for any failure.
If any strategy fails or there is a defeat on the battlefield, the blame is always put on the commanders, generals, or the old military doctrines.
Propagandists like Solovyov are spreading the message among the public that Putin had no idea that the old military doctrine would not work in Ukraine.
Inside the Kremlin and on public platforms, this failure is being blamed on military corruption and the incompetence of the generals.
Years of ongoing corruption and incompetence in the Russian army have destroyed the ability of high-ranking officers to tell the truth.
Lower-level officers send their seniors only the reports they want to hear, which results in one strategic mistake after another.
To control the growing dissatisfaction inside Russia and the unrest spreading among the people, the Kremlin is trying to protect Putin’s image.
When people are asking when the war will end, the propaganda machine is answering that the problem is not Putin, but the old military system, and to improve it, the people will have to make even more sacrifices.
Recently, Putin issued a major order to expand the size of the Russian army. On paper, this step appears to have been taken to increase the strength of the Russian army and fill the gaps, but the reality on the ground is completely the opposite.
About 93 percent of the new positions created under this expansion are for construction workers.
The role of these people will not be to attack or fight on the front line, but to build and maintain military barracks, training centres, warehouses, fortifications and other military infrastructure.
This means that Russia is currently not in a position to add a large number of new frontline soldiers to its army.
Instead, it is first trying to prepare the basic infrastructure that is needed for any large military expansion.
Moscow is not only gathering resources for the current war, but is carrying out the total militarization of its future generations for the coming decades.
From 1 September, basic military training within the subject “Fundamentals of the Protection and Defence of the Motherland” for students from class 6 to 11 will be increased from the current 20 percent to 50 percent of teaching time.
The inclusion of drone technology, engineering and compulsory military camps in this curriculum shows that Russia is turning schools into nurseries of war.
In the occupied territories of Ukraine (Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson), this policy is even more aggressive. An OSCE report clearly states that the identity of Ukrainian children is being erased and they are being made part of the Russian military machinery.
Children who are opposing this are forced to risk their lives and flee towards Ukrainian-controlled areas.
Moscow’s goal is not limited only to Ukraine. Giving military training to children of the 5th class in the name of preparation for a possible conflict with NATO by 2030 proves that Moscow is laying the foundation for a long and widespread global asymmetric warfare.
Reducing the time for science, mathematics, technology, and creative subjects and giving military education is pushing Russia’s intellectual future into darkness.
In the decades of 2030 and 2040, when other countries will be moving ahead in artificial intelligence (AI) and high technology, Russia will have a generation that will know only how to follow military orders. This will further accelerate Russia’s rapid ‘brain drain’ (talent flight).
Looking at the current situation, it seems that the Kremlin is now preparing a ‘future mobilisation reserve’ for possible future battles. Children are being morally taught that achieving ‘heroic death’ for the state is the highest goal of their life.
For now, let us talk about the current situation. Despite no progress on the battlefield, Russian generals are widely falsifying the figures of their territorial advances to please Putin.
In the official report sent to the Kremlin, it was claimed that in the month of June the Russian army captured 636 km² (square kilometres) of territory.
However, according to the figures of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and independent military analysts, the Russian army was actually able to capture only 30 km² of territory.
Along with this, Putin is being made to believe by his generals that another large-scale mobilisation is needed to win the war.
Elections for the Duma are to be held in Russia in the month of September. Putin’s party keeps full control over these elections and, after winning, the government may decide on a large-scale mobilisation of more than 500,000 citizens. The Kremlin will try to justify this mobilisation in the name of ‘national defence’.
But the biggest question is: in a country that has a severe shortage of fuel, diesel and means of transport, how will it move and equip more than 500,000 new soldiers across its vast territory?