The strike on Marynivka and the response from Russian propaganda to this attack perfectly illustrate Russia’s information policy.
Initially, the official stance of Russian propaganda was that the aircraft had taken off, and the Ukrainians had attacked an empty base. This narrative was widely spread to help Russians cope with the fact that the war had reached Russian territory. However, later, someone took photos from inside the base showing destroyed aircraft. Consequently, the propaganda quickly changed the story. Now, they claim that all the planes that could take off did so, and only the ones under repair were hit.
If there were indeed damaged planes at the Marynivka airbase, why wasn’t this mentioned from the start? Why didn’t Russian propaganda initially state that only repairable aircraft were on the base and that nothing significant was lost? The answer is simple: the Russians hoped that no one would take photos of the base and expose the actual damage. This is standard protocol for Russia—lying about everything, everywhere, immediately. This is why even among the Russian population, Russian “sources of information” are losing credibility.
In the end, the Russian Aerospace Forces lost at least seven Su-34s. The list of what was lost is still being clarified.
