Russia filmed its “victory” in Ternuvate with drones — an hour later, Ukrainian forces wiped the group out

Ukrainian defense forces cleared the village of Ternuvate in northeastern Zaporizhzhia Oblast after Russia falsely claimed to have captured it in the last days of January, Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation reported on 8 February. The operation exposed another failed Russian infiltration attempt and a disinformation campaign that reportedly fell apart within hours.

Defense forces post video from Ternuvate

Andrii Kovalenko, head of Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation, shared a video on his Telegram channel showing Ukrainian soldiers standing on a Russian flag by the village sign, holding a Ukrainian flag.

"Russians sometimes post their so-called victories for an hour. We are in Ternuvate and doing our job. Ternuvate is ours, it's Ukrainian," a soldier said in the video, adding that Russian troops should surrender as prisoners of war.

Russia's "favorite infiltration tactic" backfired within an hour

In late January, Russian forces spread false claims about capturing Ternuvate. Ukraine's Southern Defense Forces said on 31 January that the settlement sits at least 15 km from the line of contact.

The Southern Defense Forces confirmed that a Russian sabotage group used bad weather to covertly infiltrate the village. Russian troops even filmed drone footage from several positions where they planted flags.

The celebration reportedly lasted about an hour. Ukrainian forces launched a search-and-clear operation, eliminated one Russian group, and captured another. The Southern Defense Forces described the approach as Russia's "favorite infiltration tactic."

Russia redeploys airborne units to Orikhiv direction

Russian forces have recently been actively redeploying their elite airborne units to the Orikhiv direction in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. The redeployment reportedly signaled that Russian troops have sustained heavy losses in the area.