As commander of the “South” army group, General Gennady Anashkin received reports from the commander and chief of staff of the 3rd Guards Lugansk-Severodonetsk Combined Arms Army and the commanders of the 6th, 7th, and 123rd brigades.
The unit commanders claimed that they had successfully captured the villages of Serebrianka, Hryhorivka, Bilohorivka and Verkhniokamianske in the Donetsk region.
Anashkin subsequently passed these reports up the chain of command.
The reports had nothing to do with the facts on the ground. The truth came to light when Anashkin’s superiors arrived for inspection, military blogger Rybar reported.
He wrote: “Higher command arrived and wished to pay a visit to the ‘liberated’ Bilohorivka, which in theory was supposed to be deep in the rear because Hryhorivka and Serebrianka were reportedly taken.
“This exposed the scale of the hoax,” which, as Rybar points out, has been fed not only to the media but also to the highest levels of the Russian military’s command.
In spite of unofficial reports saying that Anashkin’s claims about the progress of his soldiers were fraudulent, the command did not react to them for two months.
“Taking into account the inertia and sluggishness of the war machine, it is indeed a fantastic achievement,” Rybar said.
The problem of false reporting is systemic and affects multiple sections of the frontline in the war zone, wrote another military blogger operating the Zapiski Veterana (Veteran’s diaries) telegram channel.
No official confirmation of Anashkin’s dismissal has been made as of yet.
