Yep, Context...

 ... or rather those ever important operational factors matter. Larry makes an excellent point. 

Let’s start with some facts. From August 1 to September 30, the Russians captured territory that is twice the size of the Gaza Strip:

The Russian Armed Forces captured:

1) 468 sq. km of territory In September 15.6 sq. km/day

2) 351 sq. km of territory In August 11.3 sq. km/day

The Gaza Strip is 41 kilometres (25 miles) long, from 6 to 12 km (3.7 to 7.5 mi) wide, and has a total area of 365 km 2 (141 sq mi).

And we are not talking empty farm land. The Russians are in the process of enveloping the Ukrainian troops that invaded Kursk and have captured scores of villages and towns along the line of contact in the Donbass. The Western press is struggling to come to grips with the reality of what is happening on the ground. As I noted in my October 11 article, Why Is the Pentagon Now Pushing the False Narrative About Russian Casualties?, the Ukrainians continue to exaggerate the number of Russian casualties and Western officials accept the bunk as true. The fantasy tale was presented in a Politico article, Russia Gains Ground in Ukraine, But at Steep Cost.

Correct, they need to self-medicate. Hence they exaggerate. SMO is an Exhibit A of a professional (forget about morals for now) inadequacy of the best and the brightest in Pentagon. It is a double whammy--a humiliation with a bitter taste of all-consuming professional envy. It is as simple as that. Read the whole thing at Larry's blog.