DISINFO: Putin's warning prevented Ukraine from launching an offensive
SUMMARY
The Ukrainian military is cursing the Ukrainian leadership. They said that they were ready for an offensive, but then had to put down their arms right after this statement was made. So [Putin’s] warning … for Ukraine has worked.
RESPONSE
During the direct line TV show, president Vladimir Putin's warned Kyiv of "very serious consequences for Ukrainian statehood" if it launched an offensive against pro-Russian fighters in the country’s east during the World Cup. www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-putin-ukraine/putin-warns-ukraine-against-military-action-in-east-during-world-cup-idUSKCN1J31G5, The disinformation about Ukraine preparing a major offensive in the eastern Ukraine is coming from a party of the conflict and has been a recurring topic of pro-Kremlin disinformation for a long time: euvsdisinfo.eu/disinformation-cases/?text=&disinfo_issue=&disinfo_keywords%5B%5D=77110&date=, The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine has not reported of "major hostilities" being under preparation. "Between 28 May and 10 June 2018, the security situation along the contact line in the east of Ukraine remained tense. The OSCE SMM recorded more than 14,000 ceasefire violations – a five per cent increase, compared to the previous reporting period. The SMM’s freedom of movement remained restricted due to the presence of mines and unexploded ordnance on both sides of the contact line, as well as due to other restrictions, mostly denial of access, by members of the armed formations (22 times) and by the Ukrainian Armed Forces (12 times). In one incident on 30 May, in a non-government-controlled area near Petrivske, an SMM patrol heard an explosion less than 300m from its location (www.osce.org/special-monitoring-mission-to-ukraine/383014), . In another incident on 7 June, in government-controlled Pivdenne, SMM patrol members heard warning shots fired 70-100m from them (www.osce.org/special-monitoring-mission-to-ukraine/383895), . In addition, the sides have continued to target SMM unmanned aerial vehicles, through jamming and targeting them with small-arms fire. In one incident on 9 June, an SMM long-range UAV spotted a surface-to-air missile system (9K33 Osa) near non-government-controlled Ukrainske and recorded the contrail of one missile at approximately the same altitude of the UAV and the launching of a second missile passing below the SMM’s UAV." www.osce.org/special-monitoring-mission-to-ukraine/384327?download=true,