Ukrainian president describes situation in Donetsk region as particularly difficult with Russian forces ‘methodically’ destroying towns and villages
A missile strike on Russian forces at Makiivka that Moscow claimed had killed 89 people was “highly likely” to have in fact had more than 300 casualties, the UK Ministry of Defence has said.
The case highlighted “the pervasive presence of disinformation in Russian public announcements”, the ministry said in its latest intelligence update.
This typically comes about through a combination of deliberate lying authorised by senior leaders, and the communication of inaccurate reports by more junior officials, keen to downplay their failings in Russia’s ‘blame and sack’ culture.
