Fact Check: Did Russia's Defense Minister Admit Russia Won't Win in Ukraine?

Ukraine's recent progress in the Donetsk oblast has begun to disturb pro-Russian social media after a slow summer counteroffensive that even Kyiv noted for its sluggish pace.

Incremental Ukrainian gains near Andriivka and Klishchiivka have led to murmurs on pro-Russian Telegram channels, with some assessing that Russia's front is collapsing, among the various skeptical analyses.

In what appeared to be a symptom of this new nervousness, a video of Sergei Shoigu shared widely on social media appeared to show the Russian defense minister giving a deflated, wordless response when asked whether Moscow could still conquer Ukraine in the 18-month-old war.

The Claim

A tweet by Anton Gerashchenko, posted on September 13, 2023, viewed 2.3 million times, said: "Shoigu was asked whether Russia will win.

"Watch for his answer."

The tweet included a video in which Shoigu appears to shrug when asked the question by a Russian journalist: "Will we win?"

The Facts

The brief clip may imply that Shoigu has given up, run out of options, or doesn't know what Russia's remaining options for military success will be.

However, the clip shared by Gerashchenko and others is edited and does not give the defense minister's full response.

As the longer video of the interaction shows, Shoigu answered after being asked "Will we win?" that "We have no other option."

An unedited version of the interview is available via Russian streaming media platforms.

Before the clip shared by Gerashchenko, Shoigu gave a firmer statement about Russia's military operations and options.

"The troops are engaged in maintaining an active defense in the necessary and indispensable areas," he said. "We are firmly defending what we need to defend right now. But the main task is to smash [Ukrainian] equipment."

Toward the end of the conversation, the interviewer—Russia state TV anchor Yevgeny Popov—asks: "Will we win?"

"We have no other options," the minister responds after a shrug, as the presenter proceeds to thank him.

While Shoigu did respond in the affirmative, footage of the interview appears to have since been removed from the website of the Russian state media conglomerate VGTRK, according to Echo Moskvy, another Russian outlet.

The Ruling

Misleading Material.

Although Shoigu appeared to shrug off or dismiss the question of whether Russia will win, the clip of him shared on social media is edited. In the unedited version, the Russian defense minister goes on to say "We have no other option."

Elsewhere in the video, Shoigu said Russia was "firmly defending what we need to defend right now."

FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team