Russian pundit regrets giving Ukraine ammunition to ‘ridicule us’

Kremlin pundit Maxim Yusin raged at the “elite” for offering a “fairytale” account of the war in Ukraine after Russian troops were forced to retreat from Kherson. Turning against Vladimir Putin’s war propaganda, he said Russian pundits like him had given Ukrainian ammunition to make fun of them. In one of his most enlightened assessments of the Ukraine war, Maxim Yusin said Russia has become a laughing stock and Russian pundits are just “clowns” in the eyes of the international community.Russian pundit Maxim Yusin shared his regret on Russian-state TV, saying: “I think that many of us have seen the images coming from there, of Ukrainian troops entering the city, of the billboards still in the city saying ‘With Russia forever’. “They’re ripping them down in front of cameras. On Ukrainian media, they’re posting photoshopped images where ‘With Russia forever’ is changed to ‘With Russia until November’. “It’s really unpleasant when people mock you and laugh at you. It’s twice as unpleasant when we ourselves are giving them an excuse to ridicule us.Stunned by the mocking Ukrainian messages, Maxim Yusin said: “But someone made those billboards with that particular message on them.” Maxim Yusin said Russia has become a laughing stock in the eyes of the world (Image: TWITTER/@francis_scarr) Maxim Yusin said there need to stop giving ‘fairytale’ accounts of the Ukraine war (Image: TWITTER/@francis_scarr)Still dismayed by the billboards, Mr Yusin added: “Someone took the decision – quite late too as far as I remember, in September – to put them up in Kherson in particular. “Did these people not know how tough it would be to hold the city?”How unfavourable the current balance of forces was? What was the point in setting ourselves up like this?”What at all was the point in creating – you said this yourself – that nice fairytale? Well, I’ve got a few other words for it. Yes, it was nice. But it was a fairytale!”READ MORE: Zelensky proposes 10-point peace plan to end war with Russia Maxim Yusin said Russia pundits needed to stop lying to the Russian people (Image: TWITTER/@francis_scarr) Maxim Yusin says Ukraine is laughing at his country, and that Russia only has itself to blame (Image: TWITTER/@francis_scarr)The Russian pundit started raging against the war propaganda and those who repeated those lies: “Those claims of unfounded confidence which continue to be heard often on TV in our country. “Even now, considering those recent realities, people are saying: ‘We’ll reach the Polish border!’; ‘We’ll reach Berlin, the English Channel, Lisbon!'””And now, across the whole world, and within our country too, the people who are saying this look like clowns.”That clownery is just indecent now.”DON’T MISS:Rishi Sunak blasts China as he refuses to rule out Taiwan support [REPORT]      Horror as Russian troops leave animals hanging in trees [REPORT]      US CIA director meets with Putin’s spy chief [REPORT]       Russian forces lost the strategic city of Kherson in southern Ukraine (Image: EXPRESS)Due to lies and misinformation committed by Russian generals about their troops’ advances, Russian pundits have extrapolated that Vladimir Putin’s forces would capture the whole of Ukraine and go as far as taking the whole of Europe.But the latest retreat from the strategic city of Kherson has opened some pundits’ eyes to the reality of the war and the major setbacks Russian troops have suffered since Ukraine launched its counter-offensive.In an address to world leaders gathered for the G20 in Bali, Ukrainian President Zelensky laid out a series of conditions to end the war in Ukraine, saying that Russia must reaffirm the territorial integrity of Ukraine, withdraw its troops from Ukrainian territory and pay compensation for damage caused.Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said that Volodymyr Zelensky’s statement that there will be no “Minsk-3” deal to end the fighting in Ukraine confirms that Kyiv is not interested in holding peace talks with Moscow, Reuters reports, citing the RIA Novosti news agency.READ NEXT:Ukrainian MasterChef cooking on 10-hour train journeyRishi Sunak confronts Russia at G20 SummitZelensky declares Kherson win as ‘beginning of the end’ of warPro-war ultranationalist Putin ally turns on Russian despotAndrey Rublev calls for peace after all-Russian ATP Finals match