Russia v Ukraine: US accuses Russians of planning fake attack to justify invasion

4 February 2022

Ukrainian troops — photo caption,

Washington said the fake video may show Ukrainian forces attacking Russians in eastern Ukraine

The US has accused Russia of planning a fake attack to justify its invasion of Ukraine.

U.S. officials say Moscow could release video showing an attack on Russian territory or against Russian-speaking people in eastern Ukraine.

Russia denied planning a “fake” attack, and the US offered no evidence.

The concentration of tens of thousands of Russian troops along Ukraine’s borders has raised fears of an invasion.

Moscow says it is only carrying out military exercises, but Ukraine and its Western allies are concerned about the possibility of a Russian attack.

“We have information that the Russians would like to create a pretext for an invasion,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters Thursday.

“As part of this fake attack, we believe that Russia will create a propaganda video with very graphic content, including images of dead bodies and actors grieving and destroyed places,” he said.

U.S. officials say the video is one of several ideas to create a pretext for Russia to invade its neighbor.

They said they would publicly condemn the Russian plan as a way to deter Russia from any plans to invade Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to the US accusations on Thursday.

“This is not the first such promise. [de divulgar detalhes sobre uma provocação russa]”, he said. “Something like this was already said, but nothing happened.”

Russia has repeatedly denied planning an attack.

The alleged plot was condemned by the Americans, a day after the US said it was sending more troops to Eastern Europe to support NATO allies.

Russia said the move was “catastrophic” and proved the country was right to be concerned about NATO’s expansion in the east.

On Thursday, NATO expressed concern that Russia might send up to 30,000 troops — including special forces, fighter jets and short-range ballistic missiles — to Ukraine’s northern neighbor, Belarus.

“This is the largest Russian mobilization since the Cold War,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said.

The rivalry between Russia and the United States, which still has the world’s largest nuclear arsenal, dates back to the Cold War. Ukraine was then an important part of the Communist Soviet Union.