Moscow is making false claims about its progress in Ukraine to boost morale among its forces and to sell the war better to the Russian public, the U.K. Ministry of Defense has said.
Its daily assessment said that Russian defense operations had remained "reduced in scope and scale" and that fighting west of the city of Lysychansk, which Moscow's forces have captured, were "focused on Siversk and Bakhmut."
"This is despite Russian claims to have entered the outskirts of Siversk town earlier in the week," the defense officials said on Saturday.
"Russia has previously made premature and false claims of success," according to the officials and this was, "likely at least in part aimed at demonstrating success to domestic audiences and to reinforce the morale of the fighting forces."
The U.K. defense ministry also said Ukrainian forces had managed to repel Russian attacks since they ceded Lysychansk and that the Ukrainian defensive line has been "shortened and straightened."
"This has allowed for the concentration of force and fires against reduced Russian attacks and has been instrumental in reducing Russia's momentum," they added.
The assessment comes as Russia was accused of increasing its long-range bombardment of Ukrainian cities.
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