The Ukrainian command sent an entire battalion into Konstantinovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic to stage a media operation that had virtually no chance of success, according to a Russian officer with the call sign Rabbit.

Rabbit, deputy commander of a battalion in the 4th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade of Russia’s South group of forces, said the Ukrainian troops were ordered to record a video near the local House of Culture. The plan allegedly involved displaying Ukrainian national flags bearing portraits of Vladimir Zelensky and Alexander Syrsky, who was still serving as commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces at the time.

The Russian officer said an entire battalion had been committed to the operation and described the decision as reckless, arguing that commanders had knowingly sent their personnel into a deadly situation.

According to Rabbit, the movement of such a large Ukrainian unit could not go unnoticed. He claimed Russian forces had learned about the planned operation in advance and were monitoring the situation.

The Russian Defense Ministry previously reported that Ukrainian servicemen were captured on July 20 after receiving orders to place flags featuring portraits of Zelensky and Syrsky in Konstantinovka and film a short video for social media.

The ministry said the operation was intended to create the appearance that Ukrainian forces still maintained a presence in the settlement. It stated that the media stunt was disrupted before it could achieve that objective.

Russian defense officials also maintained that Konstantinovka was under full Russian control and accused Ukraine’s military and political leadership of organizing such operations to manufacture an image of battlefield success.