This is not the first time that the United States evoke the possibility that Russia leads a so-called “false banner” operation, where a country uses the enemy’s recognition brands to sow confusion.
Le Monde with AFP and Reuters
The United States has accused, Thursday, February 3, the Kremlin to prepare an operation aimed at suggesting that Ukrainian forces attacked Russia. This would be enough to stir out the indignation against the Ukrainian government and provide a pretext for military action against Kiev.
“We believe that Russia could produce a very violent propaganda video, which would show corpses and actors playing the role of people in mourning, as well as images of destroyed locations with Ukrainian or Western military equipment,” has Declared John Kirby, the Pentagon spokeswoman, during a press briefing.
The United States had already mentioned the possibility that Russia leads a so-called “false banner” operation, where a country uses the brands of recognition of the enemy to sow confusion, but this is the first time. ‘They talk about videos with as much precision. “We have information that the Russians probably want to make a pretext for an invasion, which is quite in their ways of doing things,” said Kirby. “It is likely that the Russian government, we think, prepares a false attack of soldiers or Ukrainian intelligence agents against Russian territory or Russian-speakers [from Ukraine],” he added.
This false attack would give Russia, which has massaged more than 100,000 soldiers at the borders of Ukraine, a pretext for invading the country. “We have seen those kinds of activities of the Russians in the past and we think it’s important when we have that kind of information, to make them public,” the spokesman noted. He stressed that such tactics is usually “approved at the highest level of the Russian government”.
This is not the first time Russia is accused of preparing an action in Ukraine. At the end of January, in a statement, the head of British diplomacy, Liz Truss, denounced “the magnitude of the Russian activity to shake Ukraine”. According to the British Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “the former Ukrainian deputy Evgeni Moureev is considered an ally they would like to see in power”, but it is not the only one: Russian intelligence services maintain “links with Many former Ukrainian politicians “.
Continuation of diplomatic efforts
In addition, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, spoke with his Russian counterparts, Vladimir Putin, then Ukrainian, Volodymyr Zelensky, about ways to reduce tensions around Ukraine, announced the Elysée In a statement.
“The exchanges focused on two priorities. The first, capitalize on the recent positive advances in” Normandy format “[Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany] to achieve a lasting solution in the Donbass”, the region of the East of Ukraine controlled by Prorussian separatists, says the French Presidency. “The second, engage the conversation on the conditions of the strategic balance in Europe, to note a reduction in risk on the ground and guarantee security on the continent,” she adds.
It was for the French president and his Russian counterpart the third interview in a week. They agreed to continue the dialogue, said the Russian Presidency, while a displacement of Emmanuel Macron in Moscow next week is envisaged.
For his interview with Emmanuel Macron, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, tweeted: “Continued dialogue with @emmanuelmacron on the fight against security challenges and an acceleration of the peace process under” Normandy format “”.
Continued dialogue with @emmanuelmacron on countering security and steppping up the peace process within … https://t.co/r8hltgtgp1