Washington (CNN) The US has information that indicates Russia has prepositioned a group of operatives to conduct a false-flag operation in eastern Ukraine, a US official told CNN on Friday, in an attempt to create a pretext for an invasion.
The official said the US has evidence that the operatives are trained in urban warfare and in using explosives to carry out acts of sabotage against Russia's own proxy forces.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said the Defense Department has credible information indicating Russia has "prepositioned a group of operatives" to execute "an operation designed to look like an attack on them or Russian-speaking people in Ukraine" in order to create a reason for a potential invasion.
The allegation echoed a statement released by Ukraine's Ministry of Defense on Friday, which said that Russian special services are preparing provocations against Russian forces in an attempt to frame Ukraine. National security adviser Jake Sullivan hinted at the intelligence during a briefing with reporters on Thursday.
"Our intelligence community has developed information, which has now been downgraded, that Russia is laying the groundwork to have the option of fabricating the pretext for an invasion," Sullivan said on Thursday. "We saw this playbook in 2014. They are preparing this playbook again."
Fair_Komodo on January 14th, 2022 at 17:07 UTC »
This is going to be the least surprising invasion of all times. Party like it’s 1939.
SpicyDago on January 14th, 2022 at 16:35 UTC »
We found this bag of cocaine, we had no other choice to invade and get to the bottom of it. - Putin
SPECTREagent700 on January 14th, 2022 at 15:52 UTC »
The Ukrainians are claiming the false flag incident will happen in Transnistria, a Russian-occupied self-proclaimed independent republic in Moldova. This could be a sign that Russia doesn’t intend to limit operations only to the Donbas or territory east of the Dnieper. The Transnistrian government has repeatedly asked for union with Russia over the years and if Russian forces push to Odessa and the Moldovan (Transnistrian) border they may finally get it. It could also be an exaggeration on the part of the Ukrainian government or misinformation fed to them by Russia in an attempt to make Ukraine spread out their forces.