Russia is using “disinformation” to exaggerate small military gains in Ukraine, according to the UK.
In their latest update on the progress of the war, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said there had been “an increase in artillery fire along the north of the front line” in recent days.
“This has likely been accompanied by some increase in Russian small-unit assaults, but the situation has been obfuscated by Russian disinformation,” the MoD said.
“Russia has likely only achieved marginal gains, but its renewed activity in the north highlights its importance to the Kremlin.”
The MoD said that Russian strategists are trying “to create a buffer zone around Luhansk Oblast, the possession of which Russia almost certainly considers one of its fundamental objectives of the war”.
It is the second time in recent days that the MoD has accused Russia of spreading disinformation.
UK officials said on Thursday that the Kremlin had concealed its real reason for leaving the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
Moscow chose not to renew the pivotal agreement – brokered by the UN and Turkey in July 2022 – in which it had promised to lift its wartime blockade so Ukrainian grain could safely be exported.
Publicly, Moscow has claimed that the UN has not kept to its side of the bargain and helped Russia increase its own exports of grains and fertilisers.
But the MoD said: “Russia likely made the decision to leave some time ago, because it decided that the deal was no longer serving its interests.”