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Fake news discrediting Zapad-2021 drills comes from Ukraine — Russian Defense Ministry

The reports citing the Rospotrebnadzor Voronezh Region Directorate about Russian servicemen who allegedly got sick during the Zapad-2021 joint strategic exercise are fake and totally false," the Ministry said

MOSCOW, September 10. /TASS/. Reports of Russian servicemen who allegedly became sick during the Zapad-2021 military exercises come from the territory of Ukraine, Russian Defense Ministry said Friday.

"The reports citing the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor) Voronezh Region Directorate about Russian servicemen who allegedly got sick during the Zapad-2021 joint strategic exercise are fake and totally false," the Ministry said.

The Ministry noted that "this is not the first dissemination of false information to Russian media, coordinated from Ukrainian territory" for the last few days, adding that this fake news seeks to discredit the Zapad-2021 exercise.

According to the Ministry, a fake copy of the Rospotrebnadzor Directorate regarding the allegedly sick servicemen arrived in the email of a number of Russian media outlets.

The Ministry urged the journalists to check reports using official sources.

The Zapad-2021 military exercise takes place between September 10 and 16 across 14 proving grounds located in Russia and Belarus. Both countries repeatedly stated the defensive nature of the exercise.

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