U.S. Charges Russia Sent Saboteurs Into Ukraine to Create Pretext for Invasion

Politics|U.S. Charges Russia Sent Saboteurs Into Ukraine to Create Pretext for Invasion

WASHINGTON — The Biden medication accused Moscow connected Friday of sending saboteurs into eastbound Ukraine to signifier an incidental that could supply President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia with a pretext for ordering an penetration of parts oregon each of the country.

The White House did not merchandise details of the grounds it had collected to backmost up its charge, though 1 authoritative said it was a premix of intercepted communications and observations of the movements of people. In an email, a U.S. authoritative wrote that “Russia is laying the groundwork to person the enactment of fabricating a pretext for invasion, including done sabotage activities and accusation operations, by accusing Ukraine of preparing an imminent onslaught against Russian forces successful eastbound Ukraine.”

The official, who described the quality connected the information of anonymity, added that successful the appraisal of U.S. quality officials, “the Russian subject plans to statesman these activities respective weeks earlier a subject invasion, which could statesman betwixt mid-January and mid-February. We saw this playbook successful 2014 with Crimea.” Russia annexed Ukraine that year.

The merchandise was portion of a strategy to effort to forestall the attacks by exposing them successful advance. But without releasing the underlying quality — immoderate of which has been provided to allies — the United States opens itself up to Russian charges that it is fabricating evidence. In past years, Russia often recalled the profoundly flawed quality lawsuit the United States built for invading Iraq, arsenic portion of an effort to discredit the C.I.A. and different American quality agencies arsenic governmental operatives.

The authoritative said that the United States had “information that indicates Russia has already pre-positioned a radical of operatives to behaviour a false-flag cognition successful eastbound Ukraine,” wherever Russian-backed forces person been warring a grinding warfare of attrition with the Ukrainian government. The operatives “are trained successful municipality warfare and successful utilizing explosives to transportation retired acts of sabotage against Russia’s ain proxy forces.”

The U.S. accusation besides embraced disinformation operations, charging that successful the media “Russian influence actors are already starting to fabricate Ukrainian provocations successful authorities and societal media to warrant a Russian involution and sow divisions successful Ukraine.” Those include, the authoritative said, “emphasizing narratives astir the deterioration of quality rights successful Ukraine and the accrued militancy of Ukrainian leaders.”