The Biden Administration recently accused Russia of planning a false-flag staged event by Ukraine to give the world a reason for invading their neighboring country.
According to a report by NPR on Thursday, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said that the information about the false flag attack was recently declassified. He added that it was given to the press in the hopes that it would deter Russia from the operation.
"The United States has information that Russia is planning to stage fabricated attacks by Ukrainian military or intelligence forces as a pretext for a further invasion of Ukraine,” Price said.
One option that Russia has considered is making a propaganda video with false explosions, corpses and crisis actors involved, he said. This would be completely made up by Russian intelligence, and Price said that video has been in the works. He added that this disinformation is a favorite tactic that Moscow has used.
Price said this is just one option that has been formulated by the Russian government that would be use to justify an invasion. There were similar accusations by the United Kingdom in January, and the U.K. government has supported the U.S. claim. Price did not reveal the proof to support the claim that Russia is working on a false-flag operation, which has irked some reporters close to the case.
Associated Press reporter Matt Lee asked Price more than once during a press conference what proof the U.S. has, but he did not get a definitive answer. Lee compared the claims to that of right wing talk show host Alex Jones, who has often talked of false-flag operations.
“If you doubt the credibility of the U.S. government, of the British government, of other governments and want to find solace in information that the Russians are putting out, that is for you to do,” Price told reporters.
The tensions between Ukraine and Russia have intensified consistently over the past month, and this comes at a time where President Joe Biden authorized relocation of 3,000 troops to countries close to Ukraine like Germany and Poland. Currently the U.S. has around 60,000 troops in Europe, but Russia has moved 127,000 troops to the Ukraine Border according to Ukraine Defense Minister Andriy Zagorodnyuk as reported by NPR.
President Joe Biden has said it would be a “disaster” for Russia if an invasion occurs and threatened major sanctions.
