In military propaganda show, Russian Arctic marines report to Putin about capture of Dobropillia
Colonel Aleksandr Balyura of the 61st Naval Infantry Brigade has told the dictator about the "liberation" of the Ukrainian city. Meanwhile, President Zelenskyy says that Ukrainian forces still control the city and that the Russians are suffering "particularly heavy losses."
A carefully staged video, widely broadcast by Russian state propaganda media, shows Vladimir Putin dressed in military uniform visiting a command post for the Russian war of aggression.
In a bunker decorated with camouflage nets, the dictator’s top military men, among them Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, reported on frontline developments.
According to the reports, Russian forces are having great success in capturing Ukrainian land, including the strategically important town of Dobropillia.
Among the military men reporting to Putin was Colonel Aleksandr Balyura, a commander of the 61st Naval Infantry Brigade. The brigade, normally based on the Kola Peninsula only a few kilometres from the border with Norway and Finland, is reportedly heavily involved in the battles over Dobropillia.
According to Balyura, soldiers from his 61st Naval Infantry Brigade—especially the brigade’s airborne assault battalion and assault detachment—have played key roles in the "liberation."
Putin’s bunker meeting also included a report from Second Lieutenant Zakhar Tyshchenko of the brigade’s assault battalion, who reportedly spoke on the phone from Dobropillia.
"At present, the platoon’s personnel are continuing to mop up the remaining Ukrainian militants," Tyshchenko said.
This is far from the first propaganda show displaying Russia’s alleged successes on the battlefield. In early July 2026, Putin visited a similar command post. On both occasions, Putin was told of great success and progress on the battlefield.
The problem is that it might all be based on fakes.
According to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the city of Dobropillia is still under Ukrainian control.
"The [Russian] statements are false," the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported on Telegram on 17 October. "The Russian Ministry of Defence can announce fabricated victories as much as it wants, but these statements do not change reality: the settlements remain under the control of the Ukrainian Defence Forces, and Russian assault troops continue to die for the sake of a picture for propaganda."
President Zelenskyy has also commented on the situation in Dobropillia.
"The enemy is suffering particularly heavy losses in the areas around Dobropillia: every day, the Russians are losing approximately two hundred people killed, and many more are seriously wounded. All attempts by the enemy to advance and infiltrate are being stopped by the Ukrainian Defence Forces," he said on 12 October.
The 61st Naval Infantry Brigade is based in Sputnik, near the border with Norway and Finland. The brigade is part of the Northern Fleet and has participated in several military military operations outside Russia, including in Syria.
Since the start of the full-scale war of aggression, soldiers from the 61st Naval Infantry Brigade have been heavily involved in fighting in the Kherson river delta, as well as in other parts of Ukraine. Judging from the information available, the Russian Arctic marines have fought across major parts of occupied Ukraine over the past years.
"The black berets of the 61st Naval Infantry Brigade have, since the start of the SVO, been on most parts of the front. From 24 February 2022 until the present day, our marines have fought against the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kharkiv direction, in the ‘Sherwood Forest’ of the Slovyansk direction, in battles by Donetsk; in spring 2024 we fought the enemy on the left banks of the Dnipro, in the Kherson direction," a poster on display as part of an exhibition in Murmansk in 2025 read.
