Two Russian state news agencies reported on Monday that Moscow was moving troops to "more favorable positions" east of the Dnieper River in Ukraine, only to withdraw the information minutes later.
The highly unusual incident highlighted the disarray in the Russian military establishment and state media over how to report on the situation on the battlefield in southern Ukraine, according to Reuters.
The Ministry of Defense of Russia, as reported by the RBC portal, announced that "sending a false report on the 'regrouping' of troops in the Dnieper region, allegedly on behalf of the press center of the Russian Ministry of Defense, is a provocation."
The Russian military said last Sunday that its forces had thwarted Ukraine's attempt to form a bridgehead on the east bank of the Dnieper and nearby islands.
In a series of three breaking news stories on Monday, state news agency RIA said the Russian army's Dnieper command had decided to move troops to "more favorable positions" east of the Dnieper.
It was stated that, after regrouping, part of the forces from the Dnieper will be deployed in offensives on other fronts.
RIA stated that the Russian military command agreed with the conclusions of the leadership of the Dnieper group and ordered the transfer of troops to begin.
A few minutes later, RIA retracted all three news stories without explanation.
Another state agency, TASS, published only one news story about the redeployment of troops to more favorable positions, then retracted it, saying it was published in error. She apologized to her readers.
The US Institute for the Study of War said last Sunday that Ukraine appeared to have launched attacks across the Dnieper in the Kherson region in mid-October, and noted that Russian military bloggers were reporting continued Ukrainian ground operations on the east coast.
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