Russia has staged a fake video of troops gaining territory in Ukraine in a bid to fool Donald Trump at the negotiating table as several EU leaders reveal they will join Zelensky at the White House in a meeting with the US President.
According to Ukrainian intelligence, Russian commanders are forcing troops to risk their lives in suicidal flag-painting missions, sending small groups to the frontline villages simply to raise the Russian tri-colour while drones film the spectacle.
The footage is then paraded on kremlin television as evidence of Moscow's unstoppable advance in the Donetsk region - even though the villages remain firmly under Ukrainian control.
But the cost is devastating. Many of the men sent out on these staged missions never come back as they are shot dead or captured as they try to escape.
'Russian propaganda is actively using a new tactic of spreading disinformation – staged 'captures' of settlements - to create the illusion of success on the front,' said Ukraine's GUR military intelligence.
