When Putin bypasses diplomatic channels and contacts Trump directly through intermediaries, this usually ends up with Trump repeating the nonsense Putin feeds him. There are no "thousands of soldiers encircled" anywhere right now. The Ukrainians had to withdraw from the Kursk salient because the Russians were attacking their supply lines from a distance. While you could somewhat describe this as a kind of "encirclement," the withdrawal happened without serious difficulty, and according to Butusov, Ukrainian defenses around Sumy have secured key heights and are currently in pretty good shape.

Either one of Putin's commanders presented the situation to him far more optimistically than reality, which Putin then passed on to Trump, or Putin himself is deliberately making this stuff up and laughing at how easily Trump falls for it.

Via Láďa Krupa — https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1MN4nsFxDz/