Junta supporters and junta aligned media channels are wrongly claiming that the junta has the upper hand over the Arakan Army in Kyaukphyu Township, Arakan (Rakhine) State.
Coup supporters and junta supporting social media channels have launched a coordinated social media push to propagate the lie that junta is gaining the upper hand in the fighting in Kyaukphyu Township.
The pro-junta Telegram channel Combat News shared video footage of Arakan Army (AA) troops being targeted by drone strikes at least four times in June.
Similarly, pro-junta Telegram channels such as Ko Thet, Kyaw Swar, and Min Chit Oo shared a post on 18 June 2025 claiming that the AA had suffered heavy losses and was on the retreat from villages around Kyaukphyu Town because it could not defend itself against junta troops supported by drones and artillery.
In reality, the junta has been losing ground in Kyaukphyu Township and its Light Infantry Battalions (LIBs) 541 and 542 have come under sustained AA artillery fire which has caused them significant casualties. The AA is also attacking the Police Battalion 32 base in Kyaukphyu Town. and AA forces are also advancing towards the junta’s Dhanyawadi naval base which is about four miles (6.5km) from Kyaukphyu Town.
A Kyaukphyu Township resident familiar with the current battlefield situation said: “The AA has many advantages in its operation to take Kyaukphyu. Its rear is already secure, and it has managed to encircle Kyaukphyu Town. Right now, the AA is steadily advancing on LIB 542 and 543. From the situation on the ground, it’s clear the AA holds the upper hand.”
AA snipers have also managed to kill junta officers in Kyaukphyu Township, including two brigadier generals.In fighting near Mintattaung Village on 30 May 2025, the AA also captured the junta’s regional commander, Lieutenant Colonel Kyaw Lin Kyaing.
The junta supporters false propaganda about junta victories in Kyaukphyu Township is nothing more than a way to improve the morale of the families of junta soldiers fighting in Kyakphyu Township, who have no way of contacting the soldiers, according to Captain Zin Yaw, a former military officer who joined the anti-coup Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM).
He said: “You’ve got to remember, even when the junta lost a major city like Lashio in northern Shan State, its supporters were out there fiercely denying it. When I was in the army, there was this military supporter, Ye Moe, who would spread propaganda claiming we had already successfully captured the target, before the operation even started — and honestly, that made us swear at him.”
After the coup the junta started releasing more propaganda through government newspapers and pro-coup media outlets. It also increased its use of individual accounts and pages on social media platforms to spread propaganda, according to analysts monitoring such trends who spoke to DMG.
U Han works for the Myanmar Internet Project (MIP) which aims to document the history of the Myanmar Internet by consolidating and amplifying existing research. It was established in 2022 by a collective of researchers, practitioners and advocates with years of experience tracking developments in the Myanmar digital space.
He said: “The junta is spreading propaganda to confuse people and make it harder for them to think clearly. It also wants to create doubt and uncertainty among its enemies, the resistance forces. Its goal is to drive a wedge between the public and the resistance, so this is something we really need to watch out for.”
He added that the junta has also been using propaganda to cover up its human rights abuses and evade international sanctions.
Though, if junta supporters voice any criticism of the junta or its military capabilities the junta will not hesitate in also punishing them. For example, on 2 June 2025, the junta arrested Zaw Bhone Hein, a junta supporter living in Pyin Oo Lwin Town in Mandalay Region, for allegedly defaming senior military leaders, including Min Aung Hlaing.
