Targeted lies, inaccurate reporting
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. The British Ministry of Defense published daily information on the course of the war since the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine eleven months ago. Moscow accuses London of a disinformation campaign.