James Bond Disapproves: Kiev Admits 90% of Its Intelligence Was Rubbish

About 90 percent of the intelligence information obtained by Ukraine in the summer of 2014 has not been confirmed, according to Viktor Muzhenko, head the Ukrainian Armed Forces' General Staff.

Ukraine's military chief of staff Viktor Muzhenko has acknowledged that almost 90 percent of intelligence information obtained by the army in the summer of 2014 did not correspond to reality, including the information on the presence of Russian troops in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian news website gazeta.zn.ua reported.

Muzhenko recalled that "there is intelligence information, which we get, and there is intelligence data, which should be verified."

"Last year, 90 percent of such information was not confirmed throughout the summer period of the anti-terrorist operation [in eastern Ukraine]," Muzhenko said.

He, in particular, attributed the fact to what he described as an active operation by the opposite side to spread misinformation. 

"The General Staff only analyzed what had credibility and demanded attention, namely about 5-10 percent [of all intelligence information]," he said.

Muzhenko also said that despite intelligence data about the possible presence of the regular units of the Russian armed forces in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, the confirmation of this information was never received.

"It means that our potential retaliation could have led to a full-scale war with Russia, which would consider itself a party that was attacked," he pointed out.

Kiev has repeatedly accused Russia of sending its troops and weapons to supporters of the Donbass region's independence in eastern Ukraine, allegations that Moscow vehemently reject