NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte urged not to fall for the rhetoric of propaganda that portrays the aggressor country russia as a "mighty bear." The war against Ukraine has shown that it is rather a "garden snail."
Rutte made the statement at the Munich Security Conference, as quoted by Anadolu Agency.
Rutte reminded that the russian army is suffering staggering losses in Ukraine. In December 2025, 35,000 russian soldiers were killed. In January of this year, russian losses amounted to 30,000 killed.
"They want (us) to perceive the Russians as a mighty bear, but you could argue that they are moving through Ukraine at the stilted speed of a garden snail. And let's not forget it. Let's not fall (for) the trap of the Russian propaganda," Rutte said.
He urged Western countries not to fall into the trap of Russian propaganda, which spreads the narrative of the "mighty bear."
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, in late January, the American Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) published a report stating that in some key areas of the front, the rate of advance of the russian army ranges from 15 to 70 meters per day. These are the lowest values in the history of wars for more than 100 years.
On February 4, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that in order to fully capture the Donbas, the russian army would have to "put down" 800,000 soldiers, and the advance would take at least two years.
Analysts at the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) believe that if the current pace of advance is maintained, the russian army will be able to capture the Donbas in a year and a half.
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