White House Says Russia Is Planning ‘False Flag’ Operation as Pretext for Invading Ukraine
WASHINGTON—Russia has deployed operatives to undertake a “false flag” operation in Eastern Ukraine that would fabricate a pretext for invading the country, the White House said Friday, warning it saw signs an invasion could come in a matter of weeks.
“The operatives are trained in urban warfare and in using explosives to carry out acts of sabotage against Russia’s proxy forces,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at the White House.
Ms. Psaki’s statement came after the U.S. and its European allies concluded a week of ultimately fruitless diplomacy with Russia aimed at easing tensions in Ukraine. Russia has deployed more than 100,000 troops along the border with Ukraine and has been moving tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, rocket launchers and other military equipment westward from their bases in its Far East, according to U.S. officials and social-media reports.
The movements of troops and materiel have prompted fears in the U.S. and the West that it intends to invade, or that Russian President Vladimir Putin is generating a crisis to extract security concessions from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
