The survival of the Russian Ministry of Defense, which distributed a video of a commander’s meeting, is unclear.
Even at the beginning of the war, both sides had conflicting claims about the survival of the Moscow captain.
Ukraine’s disinformation campaign… Last year’s northeastern retaking battle was a great success.
A day after the Ukrainian military announced that it had attacked the Black Sea Fleet headquarters on the Crimean Peninsula, killing 33 commanders, including Commander Viktor Sokolov, the Russian Ministry of Defense released footage of a video conference attended by the Black Sea Fleet commander.
Accordingly, the New York Times (NYT) reported on the 26th (local time) that all kinds of false information warfare that arose during the Ukraine war are newly emerging.
Six weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine last year, the Moscow ship, the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, sank after being attacked by a missile from the Ukrainian military.
At the time, Ukrainian officials announced that Captain Anton Kuprin of the Moscow ship had died, but the Russian Navy released a video showing the survivors of the Moscow ship, including Captain Kuprin.
In the end, it was not confirmed whether Captain Kufrin survived or whether someone resembling him appeared in the video. Additionally, it is not clear whether Ukraine intentionally spread false information to demoralize the Russian military or whether it was simply a misunderstanding.
The Moscow captain incident is one of the cases that reminds us that fake, disinformation and propaganda wars are routine in the Ukraine war. It is part of an effort to boost morale domestically and to demoralize or lead the enemy into a trap. As a result, the announced information cannot be confirmed as fact, and it is difficult to easily determine the background of the announcement.
This time, when asked about the death of the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Russian Presidential Palace spokesman Dmitry Peskov simply replied that he should ask the Ministry of Defense, and a few minutes later the Russian Ministry of Defense released a video showing the commander attending the meeting.
Ukraine then announced that it was reconfirming whether Commander Sokolov was dead.
There is a precedent for Ukraine’s disinformation campaign to be a huge success. Last summer, Ukrainian officials made several claims that they would retake southern Kherson. In fact, an attack was launched from the south. Accordingly, the Russian army moved its troops deployed in the northeast to the south.
However, the Ukrainian army launched a surprise attack on the northeastern Kharkiv region, breaking through the weakened defense line and defeating the Russian army. After continuing the attack in the south, Kherson, the capital of Kherson Province, was also recaptured.
The Ukrainian military also announces that Russian casualties are in the hundreds every day. Few experts believe this, but it is reported daily in Ukrainian media.
If Black Sea Fleet Commander Sokolov actually died, Russia’s release of the video can be seen as an attempt to imply that Ukraine did not achieve much success in the attack by not making it clear whether he was alive or not.
Conversely, Ukraine’s claims of Commander Sokolov’s death may have been aimed at demoralizing the Russian military or emphasizing the weakness of Russia’s air defenses.
Regardless of whether Sokolov died, the destruction of Ukraine’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters was a major achievement for the Ukrainian military, as was the sinking of the Moscow ship regardless of whether its captain survived. Russia still says that the Moscow ship sank in an explosion.
Ukraine’s Interior Minister Anton Gerashchenko said after the attack on the Black Sea Fleet headquarters that the propaganda campaign will not work unless significant results are achieved. He emphasized, “This is a great victory achieved by the Ukrainian military intelligence and air force by striking a target that appears to have excellent air defense with a cruise missile.”
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.