The Russian Defense Ministry has changed its reporting system to limit the amount of information it releases about Russia's war in Ukraine, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote in its Aug. 29 report.
The ministry also appears to be "attempting to censor complaints along the front line and reports of Ukrainian advances," the ISW said.
According to the ISW, the ministry previously published a daily report of its own that differed in some aspects from the updates sent separately by each group of Russian forces.
However, on Aug. 29, the press services of all groupings issued the ministry's daily report rather than their individual summaries.
The change "may reflect [the ministry's] wider efforts to censor Russian reporting on the war and unify its own narrative," the ISW said.
It is not clear yet if the change will become standard policy going forward, but if it does, more limited reports on activities at the front lines will be released in the Russian information space.
On Aug. 28, the ISW reported that the ministry had angered ultranationalist factions in Russia by attemping to silence criticism of commanders at the southern front.
Asami Terajima
