The US on Friday accused Russia of sending saboteurs trained in explosives to stage a pretext to invade Ukraine, where government Web sites were knocked out in a cyberattack.
The allegations and incident mark a striking new escalation in tensions over Ukraine, just after a week of talks between the West and Russia that sought a diplomatic solution.
Russia has amassed tanks, artillery and tens of thousands of troops near the border of Ukraine as it demands guarantees that its neighbor will never join NATO — which on Friday announced new cybercooperation with Kiev in response to the attack.
Photo: AP
Detailing intelligence findings, the White House said that Russia was “laying the groundwork to have the option of fabricating a pretext for invasion” by blaming Ukraine.
“We have information that indicates Russia has already prepositioned a group of operatives to conduct a false-flag operation in eastern Ukraine,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. “The operatives are trained in urban warfare and in using explosives to carry out acts of sabotage against Russia’s own proxy forces.”
US intelligence believes Russia could begin the operations several weeks before a military invasion, which could start between now and the middle of next month, Psaki said.
Russia has denied plans to invade Ukraine and quickly dismissed the latest US statements, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov calling them “unfounded.”
However, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the intelligence was considered “very credible” before being cleared for public release.
With the world on alert for any signs of invasion, government Web sites across Ukraine, including those of the emergencies ministry, education ministry and Cabinet, went down early on Friday.
“All information about you has become public, be afraid and expect the worst,” a message in Ukrainian, Russian and Polish said.
Ukraine said that access to most of the affected sites had been restored within hours and that the fallout was minimal.
“The content of sites has not been changed and according to preliminary information no personal data was leaked,” the SBU security service said in a statement.
Without naming Moscow, a top aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Andriy Yermak, said Western and Ukrainian intelligence believed the cyberattacks were part of a plot for the “destabilization of the situation in Ukraine.”
NATO said that its experts were on the ground in Ukraine to offer support.
“In the coming days, NATO and Ukraine will sign an agreement on enhanced cybercooperation, including Ukrainian access to NATO’s malware information sharing platform,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.
EU foreign ministers, meeting in Brest, France, promised support, with several saying that they had feared a cyberattack to set the stage for a Russian invasion.
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