Additionally, successes in the Vietnamese jungles were a boost to the reputation of Soviet arms. So each ne request from Ambassador Scherbakov to Moscow received expedited treatment, sometimes even by Brezhnev himself. Sometimes rosy pictures were painted for the leadership like this briefing note by Brezhnev;
. . . during the first three months of 1965, the Presidium of the
CPSU Central
Committee has discussed questions concerning our provision of military aid to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on four occasions. thanks to our ambassador and information from the military, we have a complete picture of the situation in the theater of operations in the region. I am pleased to state that we control the situation there. . . .18
