Russian authorities claim video of soldiers describing mismanagement during Kherson retreat is 'staged'

Russia’s National Defense Management Center (NTsUO) has called a recent video that showed Russian soldiers complaining of mismanagement during the Russian army’s retreat from the Kherson region “staged.”

In the video, which appeared on multiple Telegram channels on November 15, soldiers from Russia’s Smolensk region accuse their commanders of failing to provide proper equipment as well as failing to notify them when Ukrainian troops recaptured the right bank of the Dnipro River, which they claim led to unnecessary casualties. “There was nothing we could do. We just suffered the losses,” the soldiers, who were stationed on the river’s left bank, say in the video.

“During the investigation that was conducted, it was determined that the division in question is located in its positions, fulfilling its duties as intended, and did not come under fire,” TASS quoted NTsUO as saying. According to the command center, the clip and other “false materials about the difficult position of soldiers in the zone of the special military operation” are being spread on Telegram for the “purpose of discrediting the actions of the Russian Armed Forces.”

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