According to British intelligence services, Russia is intentionally misrepresenting the number of casualties in the war against Ukraine. The Ministry of Defense in London today referred to findings about a Ukrainian attack on a Russian military base in the Donetsk region on New Year’s Eve. Subsequently, Russia reported the deaths of 89 soldiers. According to British secret services, however, there is a high probability that more than 300 victims died.
For London, this illustrates a “spread of misinformation in all Russian public statements”. The report said this was caused by deliberate lies that were dismissed by high-ranking officials and inaccurate reporting by lower-level officials who wanted to downplay their own shortcomings for fear of being fired.
In the specific case of New Year’s Eve, Russia probably decided to take the unusual step of naming a specific number of victims because there was so much criticism from Russian commanders that comment became inevitable.