The Russian Defense Ministry said last night that Russian troops had entered Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, which the Ukrainian General Staff in Kiev immediately declared false, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
The claims of both sides cannot be verified by independent sources, the agency said.
The Russian ministry said that units of its 90th Tank Division had reached the western border of Donetsk region and were "continuing their offensive on the territory of Dnipropetrovsk region".
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian National Security Council, also repeated this claim. "Our armed forces have launched an offensive in the Dnipropetrovsk region," he wrote on Telegram.
But the Ukrainian General Staff in Kiev said that Moscow's claims were false. "The information does not correspond to the facts," a General Staff representative told Ukrainian media. "The enemy has not entered the Dnipropetrovsk region."
Back in May, Kremlin-linked bloggers reported that Russian troops had reached the administrative border of the Dnipropetrovsk region, DPA recalls.
However, the military governor of the region, Serhiy Lysak, dismissed this as fake news. The enemy is spreading such false reports "to intimidate people in our region, spread panic and destabilize the situation," he said in May.
However, independent military experts warn that a Russian invasion of the region is possible. According to them, this would have more of a propaganda and psychological value for Moscow.
The French Defense Ministry has approached "Renault" with the aim of the carmaker assisting in the production of drones in Ukraine, after the ministry last week expressed the idea that French companies could help with production in Ukraine, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
"The Defense Ministry has contacted us about the possibility of producing unmanned aircraft. Talks have been held, but no decision has been made at this stage, as we await further details on this project from the ministry," Renault said in a statement to Reuters.
Earlier today, the French news website "France Info" reported that the French automaker is expected to produce drones in Ukraine.
In response to a request for information, the ministry told Reuters that it was up to the automaker, without naming it, to say whether it would participate.
Also, without naming companies, Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu told French news channel LCI on Friday that France would create a partnership between a major French automaker and a small defense firm to equip production lines in Ukraine to produce drones.