Ukrainian commander debunks Russian claims about Torske in Donetsk region

"The enemy has been reporting for over a year to its higher command that Torske is under their control. Apparently, after yet another inspection, it became clear they were lying to their leadership," the commander said.

The commander explained that the video showing Russian soldiers running with flags indeed captured a few soldiers who managed to briefly enter Torske. They waved flags demonstratively in front of a drone camera, likely to create the illusion for their command that the settlement was under Russian control.

"How did the enemy enter Torske? It’s very simple, very predictable," Yurchuk noted.

According to the commander, Russian forces attempt to enter Torske in small groups - typically two soldiers per team, forming two or three groups. They use special anti-thermal camouflage cloaks and try to slip through Ukrainian defensive lines - sneaking, crawling, or simply hoping to get lucky.

Most of these attempts fail, Yurchuk said, with 80–90% of the soldiers being eliminated. However, if such attempts are made repeatedly, a few do manage to slip through.

Those who make it into the settlement are given flags by their commanders and ordered to wave them around for show - to produce footage for reporting purposes. In reality, as Yurchuk pointed out, all of those soldiers are eventually either killed or captured.

"Or they’re just hiding in basements, afraid to come out, starving to death - like the prisoners we captured who couldn’t even speak because they hadn’t eaten or drunk anything for a month. They were happy to be captured," he added.

At the same time, Yurchuk pointed out that a video released by Ukraine’s 106th Battalion shows Ukrainian troops calmly standing near the same church in Torske that Russian forces had earlier shown in photos, falsely claiming to have seized the settlement. The footage was filmed not by drone but from the ground, right on location.

"May 16, 2:25 p.m. We, the soldiers of the 106th Battalion of the 63rd Brigade, are defending Torske in Donetsk region. The village is under our control, and Russia can only dream of taking it. We’re standing firm. Glory to Ukraine! Torske is entirely ours, fully controlled by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. And the enemy will not pass, crawl, fly or swim there,” the brigade declared.

Fake news about the capture of Torske

Yesterday, it was reported that the Russian forces occupied the village of Torske in the Donetsk region.

A video published by the Russian command showed Russian soldiers waving a flag.

This is not the first time Russia has spread fake news about Ukraine and the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Earlier this year, amid false reports about the complete liberation of the Kursk region, Russian propaganda launched a new stage of a large-scale disinformation campaign.

It concerned the so-called atrocities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. False reports were widely circulated, claiming that Ukrainian soldiers had allegedly killed and executed civilians in Russia’s Kursk region.