US officials said they had evidence that Russia had developed a plan, approved at high levels in Moscow, to create a pretext for invading Ukraine by launching a false attack that could lead to alleged casualties in the pro-Moscow separatist eastern Ukraine and could spill into the interior of Ukraine. Russia.
The four officials familiar with the matter said that US intelligence has declassified the details of the plan, which the Biden administration is expected to reveal on Thursday.
The US administration had warned last month that Russia would send its operatives to eastern Ukraine in preparation for possible sabotage operations.
The officials explained that the operation, which the United States plans to expose, will include broadcasting images of civilian casualties in eastern Ukraine – and possibly across the border in Russia – to a wide audience to provoke anger against the Ukrainian government and create a pretext for the invasion, while US officials did not reveal whether the losses were real or fake. However, those familiar with the plan confirmed that it was drafted by the Russian security services and is in the advanced stages of preparation.
The officials indicated that this plan is linked to other plans revealed by Western intelligence separately, including Russia’s placement of saboteurs in eastern Ukraine and another alleged scheme, revealed by the British government last month, to destabilize the Ukrainian government and install a pro-Russian there.
Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops around Ukraine’s borders, prompting the administration of US President Joe Biden to warn that Russian President Vladimir Putin may send his forces into Ukraine at any moment.
The Kremlin denied that Russian forces were preparing to invade Ukraine, stressing Moscow’s right to move its forces around Russia locally as it desired.