Fake breakthrough: how Russia invented a “way out” to the border of Dnipropetrovs’k region
21 May 22:47
Russian propaganda is once again trying to manipulate information by spreading fakes about the alleged advance of its troops to the administrative border of the Dnipro region. Today, on May 21, 2025, statements appeared online claiming that Russian forces had reached the border of the region, accompanied by fabricated photos. What is really happening and why these reports are yet another attempt at disinformation, [Kommersant] looked into the details.
This time, Kremlin resources spread a message that Russian troops had reached the administrative border of Dnipropetrovs’k region.
The propagandists accompanied the “news” with a photo of several Russian soldiers posing with a flag against a barbed wire fence. The location was indicated near the village of Novomykolaivka.
DeepState: fake staging and destroyed occupants
The DeepState analytical portal explained that all Russians who were traveling with their tricolor rag in the area of Troitske were destroyed.
“A photo of the k**aps with a rag on a pickup truck that got tangled in the yew tree is circulating online, and Moscow bloggers are choking with joy about the “achievement” of the administrative border with Dnipropetrovska oblast, as they claim, near Novomykolaivka. And on the screen you can see one of those who took that photo. The same fate awaited his “friends”. The pickup truck belonged to Ukrainian soldiers who simply got lost in the hedge at night, and in the morning the Russians ran there and started taking pictures. This happened near the village of Troitske, as the fighters tell us. That’s the whole story,” the statement reads.
One of the dead in the photo is the one who probably took the staged “testimony of the breakthrough”. The same fate befell the other participants in this unsuccessful media campaign.
Ukraine’s official position
The head of the Dnipro Regional Military Administration, Serhiy Lysak, categorically denied the enemy’s claims. In his Telegram channel , he emphasized that the information about the advance of Russian troops was fake and the photo was fabricated.
“This is a fake! Both this “news” and the photo that allegedly illustrates it. They are not true. And they were deliberately published by the enemy to intimidate the residents of our region, sow panic and destabilize the situation. Do not fall for provocations. Trust only official sources. Believe in the Defense Forces and support them,” Lysak said.
Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council, confirmed the fake news:
“Russian troops have not reached the administrative border of Dnipropetrovs’k region. All such statements are an information and psychological operation of the enemy.”
Why is Russia spreading fakes?
Such information injections are part of the hybrid war Russia is waging against Ukraine. By spreading disinformation, the enemy seeks to:
- Intimidate the population of the frontline regions.
- Sow panic among Ukrainians.
- Create an illusion of success for the domestic audience.
However, the Ukrainian military and analysts promptly respond to such provocations, debunking fakes and providing reliable information.
