US says Russia preparing ‘false-flag’ operation for Ukraine invasion
- Moscow already has operatives in place to plant explosives, then blame the acts of sabotage on its neighbour, a US official says
- The Biden administration also believes Russia is working on a social media disinformation campaign to frame Ukraine as an aggressor
The Biden administration has determined a Russian effort is under way to create a pretext for its troops to potentially further invade Ukraine, and Moscow has already pre-positioned operatives to conduct “a false-flag operation” in eastern Ukraine, a US official said Friday.
The administration believes Russia is also laying the groundwork through a social media disinformation campaign by framing Ukraine as an aggressor that has been preparing an imminent attack against Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss sensitive intelligence on the record.
The official did not provide details about how the intelligence community came to its determination or how much confidence they have in the assessment.
Ukraine is also monitoring the alleged use of disinformation by Russia. Separately, Ukrainian media on Friday reported that authorities believed Russian special services were planning a possible false-flag incident that could be seen as provoking additional conflict.