MOSCOW: Pro-Russian separatists said on Saturday that they had revealed Kiev’s plans to seize territory under its control in the eastern region. Ukraine forcefully, and paraded a man who he said was a Ukrainian spy.
Authorities in Ukraine’s capital quickly dismissed the alleged plan as a fake and have dismissed allegations of espionage in the past, but such reports are contributing to a rise in tensions.
There is growing fear in Kiev and in the West that a false flag operation – an act intended to place blame on another party – could be conducted in eastern Ukraine and used as a pretext for an attack by Russia. .
Russia, which has a large military base near Ukraine, has denied plans to invade and has dismissed false flag operations.
But he said he was concerned about the situation and that separatist officials in eastern Ukraine began a mass evacuation on Friday, citing fears of an attack from Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials have denied any plan of attack, and fear there is growing effort to make excuses for Russian aggression.
On Saturday, separatists in the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic said they had stalled a plan to “purify” pro-Russian territory from Russian speakers as part of a five-day campaign to take the region by force.
In an interview broadcast on Russia’s state Channel One television channel, a man whom separatists said was detained in the city of Donetsk, said he had helped Ukraine detonate a separatist commander’s jeep and that he had used weapons. and smuggled explosives.
“I was recruited in 2018,” he was shown as saying.
He said his handler had told him to stay away from the high apartment block in the city of Donetsk because it would be hit by artillery and there was a risk of him being killed.
‘Hostile and inflammatory’
Russia-backed rebels occupied a part of eastern Ukraine and Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, when protests toppled Ukraine’s pro-Russian leader. Kiev says more than 14,000 people have died in conflict in the past.
Local authorities in the Lugansk region said on Saturday that a vehicle loaded with explosives was found parked on a road being used to evacuate people in Russia.
Officials in the area also said explosions had ripped through a local gas pipeline and a petrol station the previous night and described them as acts of sabotage that they suspected Ukraine was behind.
In other incidents on Saturday, Russia’s FSB security service said two shells landed in Russian territory near the border, Russia’s Tass news agency reported. One hit a building in the Rostov area but no one was hurt.
Ukraine’s military accused Russia of forging images of the shells to make it appear that they were Ukrainian, and said the mercenaries had arrived in separatist-held eastern Ukraine to provoke cooperation with Russian special forces.
Helga Schmid, secretary-general of the security watchdog of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau, expressed concern on Friday about rising rhetoric.
“We condemn the spread of propaganda by Ukrainian government forces about an imminent military action that seriously affects the civilian population in the conflict region,” they said in a joint statement.
“The increasingly hostile and inflammatory rhetoric we have been hearing lately undermines efforts to promote peace, stability and security and increases the risk of further confrontation and escalation. This must be stopped.”
Moscow expressed surprise at the statement and questioned the objectivity of the OSCE.
Authorities in Ukraine’s capital quickly dismissed the alleged plan as a fake and have dismissed allegations of espionage in the past, but such reports are contributing to a rise in tensions.
There is growing fear in Kiev and in the West that a false flag operation – an act intended to place blame on another party – could be conducted in eastern Ukraine and used as a pretext for an attack by Russia. .
Russia, which has a large military base near Ukraine, has denied plans to invade and has dismissed false flag operations.
But he said he was concerned about the situation and that separatist officials in eastern Ukraine began a mass evacuation on Friday, citing fears of an attack from Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials have denied any plan of attack, and fear there is growing effort to make excuses for Russian aggression.
On Saturday, separatists in the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic said they had stalled a plan to “purify” pro-Russian territory from Russian speakers as part of a five-day campaign to take the region by force.
In an interview broadcast on Russia’s state Channel One television channel, a man whom separatists said was detained in the city of Donetsk, said he had helped Ukraine detonate a separatist commander’s jeep and that he had used weapons. and smuggled explosives.
“I was recruited in 2018,” he was shown as saying.
He said his handler had told him to stay away from the high apartment block in the city of Donetsk because it would be hit by artillery and there was a risk of him being killed.
‘Hostile and inflammatory’
Russia-backed rebels occupied a part of eastern Ukraine and Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, when protests toppled Ukraine’s pro-Russian leader. Kiev says more than 14,000 people have died in conflict in the past.
Local authorities in the Lugansk region said on Saturday that a vehicle loaded with explosives was found parked on a road being used to evacuate people in Russia.
Officials in the area also said explosions had ripped through a local gas pipeline and a petrol station the previous night and described them as acts of sabotage that they suspected Ukraine was behind.
In other incidents on Saturday, Russia’s FSB security service said two shells landed in Russian territory near the border, Russia’s Tass news agency reported. One hit a building in the Rostov area but no one was hurt.
Ukraine’s military accused Russia of forging images of the shells to make it appear that they were Ukrainian, and said the mercenaries had arrived in separatist-held eastern Ukraine to provoke cooperation with Russian special forces.
Helga Schmid, secretary-general of the security watchdog of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau, expressed concern on Friday about rising rhetoric.
“We condemn the spread of propaganda by Ukrainian government forces about an imminent military action that seriously affects the civilian population in the conflict region,” they said in a joint statement.
“The increasingly hostile and inflammatory rhetoric we have been hearing lately undermines efforts to promote peace, stability and security and increases the risk of further confrontation and escalation. This must be stopped.”
Moscow expressed surprise at the statement and questioned the objectivity of the OSCE.
,