Two Russian state news agencies published reports on Monday that Moscow was moving troops to “more advantageous positions” east of the Dnipro River in Ukraine, but retracted the news minutes later, Reuters reported.
The incident, highly unusual, shows the confusion within the Russian military establishment and state media over how to report on the situation on the battlefield in southern Ukraine, Reuters said.
The Ministry of Defense reacted quickly, declaring that the publication of “false information” about the “regrouping” of troops in the Dnipro region, which allegedly came from the press center of the Ministry of Defense of Russia, is a “provocation.”
RIA and TASS reported the news, then denied it and apologized
On Monday, in a series of three messages, the state news agency RIA reported that the command of the Russian Dnipro Group of Forces decided to redeploy troops to “more advantageous positions” east of the Dnieper.
It added that after regrouping, the “Dnipro” group will release part of the troops to be transferred to the offensive in other directions. RIA wrote that the Russian military command agreed with the conclusions of the Dnipro leadership and gave an order to begin the redeployment of troops.
A few minutes later, the RIA removed all three warnings without giving reasons.
Another state news agency, TASS, published only a report of troop redeployment to more advantageous positions, then retracted it, saying it had been published in error. She apologized to the readers.
Kremlin spokesman Dmytro Peskov at a press conference on Monday declined to comment on what happened to the news published by the two news agencies.
Russian troops are pressing east of the Dnieper
Last week, the Russian military said its forces had foiled an attempt by Ukraine to establish a beachhead on the east bank of the Dnieper and nearby islands.
On Sunday, on the eastern (left) bank of the Dnieper in the Kherson region, against the background of ground operations, Ukrainian troops made a slight advance, the Institute for the Study of War notes.
Geolocation images released on Sunday show that Ukrainian forces have not advanced in Krynyk (30 km northeast of the city of Kherson and 2 km from the Dnipro).
Several Russian military bloggers continued to claim that Russian forces tried and failed to dislodge Ukrainian forces from Krynyk, and that Ukrainian forces are conducting offensive operations near Poym (10 km southeast of the city of Kherson and 4 km from the Dnipro River), Pishchanivka (13 km southeast of Kherson and 3 km from the Dnipro River) and Pidstepne (17 km east of Kherson and 4 km from the Dnipro River).
Source: Hot News
James Springer is a renowned author and opinion writer, known for his bold and thought-provoking articles on a wide range of topics. He currently works as a writer at 247 news reel, where he uses his unique voice and sharp wit to offer fresh perspectives on current events. His articles are widely read and shared and has earned him a reputation as a talented and insightful writer.