**Ukrainian Officials Dismiss Russian Claims of Troops at Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Border**
In a statement on May 21, Ukrainian officials have denied claims circulating online that Russian forces have reached the administrative border of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. Serhii Lysak, head of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Military Administration, called the claims “fake” and dismissed the accompanying photograph as fabricated.
“This so-called ‘news’ and the photo allegedly illustrating it do not reflect reality,” Lysak said in a statement. “They were deliberately published by (Russia) to frighten residents of our region, sow panic, and destabilize the situation.”
**Photograph Examined**
The viral image in question appeared to show Russian soldiers near a pickup truck entangled in barbed wire. However, Ukrainian monitoring group DeepState has refuted this claim, stating that the photo was taken in the Donetsk Oblast village of Troitske, not at the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast border. According to DeepState, the vehicle belonged to Ukrainian troops who came under attack during the night, and Russian forces later staged photos with the abandoned vehicle in the morning.
**Donetsk Oblast Under Heavy Attack**
While Donetsk Oblast has been a hotbed of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine since 2014, with significant escalation after the full-scale invasion in 2022, Russian forces have not yet entered neighboring Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. Despite this, Moscow regularly targets Dnipropetrovsk Oblast with drones, missiles, and aerial bombs, inflicting heavy civilian casualties.
**Peace Talks Continue to Stall**
Russia’s advance in Ukraine has not relented despite efforts by the U.S. to broker a peace deal and Kyiv’s calls for an unconditional ceasefire over the past months. After a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump on May 19, Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected once again a full ceasefire in Ukraine.
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