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Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu's claimed "visit" to "forward Russian positions" in Ukraine turned out to be more than 80 kilometers away from the front line in Russian-occupied Crimea, RFE/RL reported.
Shoigu claimed to have inspected "forward Russian positions" in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine on Dec. 18.
Attaching a short video of Shoigu in a military helicopter, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that he had spoken with troops about the current battlefield assessment “on the front line” and at a “command post.”
Citing open-source intelligence, RFE/RL said that the trenches in the video of Shoigu's alleged visit were geolocated to the village of Armiansk in Russian-occupied Crimea.
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