Ukraine Counteracts Russian Disinformation Campaign
On August 16, 2025, Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) reported that staged videos circulated by Russian forces claiming the capture of Ukrainian villages are outright fabrications. Ukrainian special forces have dismantled these deceptive narratives, effectively countering the Kremlin’s attempts to depict false military successes, reports 24brussels.
Russian troops have adopted a new tactic of disseminating misinformation through staged “captures” of Ukrainian settlements to create an illusion of victory on the battlefield. These videos serve to validate “success” reports to the Russian military command and are leveraged by state media to stir public sentiment in Ukraine.
The occupiers have even developed a technique for producing such videos. Small groups bearing Russian flags attempt to bypass Ukrainian defensive positions, occasionally penetrating local communities to film short clips that supposedly corroborate their claims of territorial gains. However, such occurrences are infrequent.
Recently, Russian forces released yet another video from the village of Andriivka-Klevtsove. In response, the “Russian Volunteer Corps” and members of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate Special Operations Unit, alongside the 5th Separate Heavy Mechanized Brigade, showcased the true situation in the settlement by neutralizing the Russian operatives. Similar actions were witnessed in the village of Zelenyi Hai, as emphasized by the special forces.
On July 28, HUR special forces executed an operation at Tendrivska Spit in the northern Black Sea, targeting enemy positions. Ukrainian troops successfully eliminated an enemy installation, including the electronic warfare complex “Zont” and radar system “Rosa,” after which they raised the Ukrainian flag in place of the Russian one.
