Ukrainian officials deny Russian troop presence in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast

Ukrainian officials have dismissed on May 21 claims circulating online that Russian forces have reached the administrative border of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

Serhii Lysak, head of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Military Administration, called the claims "fake" and said that the accompanying photograph allegedly showing Russian troops in the area was also fabricated.

"This so-called 'news' and the photo allegedly illustrating it do not reflect reality," Lysak said in a statement. "They were deliberately published by (Russia) to frighten residents of our region, sow panic, and destabilize the situation."

The Ukrainian monitoring group DeepState also addressed the viral image, which appeared to show Russian soldiers near a pickup truck entangled in barbed wire. Russian military bloggers claimed the photo proved they had reached the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast border near the village of Novomykolaivka.

DeepState refuted the claim, saying the photo was taken in the Donetsk Oblast village of Troitske and that the vehicle belonged to Ukrainian troops who came under attack during the night. Russian forces reportedly later arrived and staged photos with the abandoned vehicle in the morning.

There has been no official confirmation of any Russian advance into Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

While Donetsk Oblast has been the epicenter of Russia's aggression against Ukraine since 2014 — with significant escalation after the full-scale invasion in 2022 – Russian forces have not yet entered the neighboring Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

Moscow nevertheless regularly targets Dnipropetrovsk Oblast with drones, missiles, and aerial bombs, inflicting heavy civilian casualties.

Russia's advance in Ukraine has not relented despite the U.S. efforts to broker a peace deal and Kyiv's calls for an unconditional ceasefire over the past months. After a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump on May 19, Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected once again a full ceasefire in Ukraine.