russia carried out a “false flag operation” near Kupiansk
russian propaganda once again accuses Ukraine of a crime committed by the russian army itself. Pro-kremlin outlets are circulating a video allegedly showing Ukrainian FPV drones attacking two civilians carrying white flags in the Kupiansk area.
In reality, the footage documents a war crime committed by the russian military. According to Ukraine’s 77th Airborne Brigade, the video was filmed on November 3, 2025, in the village of Kruhliakivka, Kharkiv region. russian troops deliberately targeted two unarmed civilians walking along a road with a white flag in their hands. As a result of the drone strike, two people and a dog were killed. There were no Ukrainian military positions or facilities anywhere nearby.
Available evidence indicates that it was the russian soldiers themselves who recorded this strike — effectively the execution of two unarmed individuals — in order to spread the footage later for propaganda purposes and accuse the Armed Forces of Ukraine of the crime.
russia carried out a cynical “false flag operation” to discredit the Ukrainian army. With such staged provocations, kremlin propaganda attempts to justify the terror committed by russian troops against peaceful Ukrainians and shift responsibility for its own war crimes onto Ukraine.
