RIA Novosti published an article with the headline "The British General listed the cities that the Armed Forces of Ukraine may soon lose", built on allegedly direct quotes from British Army General Rupert Jones. The agency writes :
“According to the officer, the Armed Forces of Ukraine may lose control over such large cities as Kharkov and Zaporozhye, as well as withdraw from Artemovsk after a series of serious defeats. At the same time, he clarified that he could not say exactly where the most important battles would take place, since the plans of the parties remain secret.
RIA refers to the British tabloid Express . However, in the very speech of Rupert Jones, to which the publication refers, such words cannot be found.
The British general did indeed comment on military operations in Ukraine on Times Radio. The Express later published a short excerpt from this interview, only 58 seconds long, where he says the following:
“If we talk about Bakhmut, he is of great importance for Putin. He worked on it for months and shed a lot of blood there. And it's more about status. Kharkiv is only 25 miles from the border with Russia, so it looks like a significant target for Putin. And then, potentially, he could attack further south – this is talk about Zaporozhye.
Express itself, explaining what the British general said, clarifies that the cities he listed “can be seen as huge trophies for Vladimir Putin,” and emphasizes that Rupert Jones only warned where Russian troops would potentially attack in the coming weeks.