Russia is accused of staging 'false flag' attack after claiming it killed five Ukrainian troops inside Russian separatist territory
Russia has been accused of orchestrating a 'false flag' event after Moscow claimed it killed five Ukrainian troops in Russian territory.
In what would be the first fatal clash between Russian and Ukrainian forces since Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine's east on Monday, Moscow claimed it had ambushed two military units, destroyed two armoured vehicles and killed five. But analysts were quick to cast doubt over the claims, which have resulted in fresh warnings that the Kremlin is looking to manufacture conflict as justification to begin a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In another incident, the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) claimed that bombing carried out by 'Ukrainian saboteurs' killed three civilians. A video of a reporter showing the damage was also questioned by analysts.
Ukrainian officials also dismissed the alleged incidents, with one calling on the Kremlin to 'stop your fake-producing factory now'.
The claims came as Russian tanks, armoured vehicles and trucks were seen rolling into eastern regions overnight following Putin's orders to deploy on so called 'peacekeeping' missions.
And at the same time, Ukraine said heavy shelling broke out along nearly all 250 miles of its frontline with the breakaway provinces, leaving two of its soldiers dead and 12 injured in a major escalation in violence.
Russia has been accused of orchestrating a 'false flag' event after Moscow claimed it killed five Ukranian troops in Russian territory, without supplying evidence. A video allegedly showing the incident (pictured) has been widely debunked by analysts as fake
The video showed a 'soldier' following an armoured vehicle through a field, and was filmed on a camera by another person following them holding a weapon (pictured)The head of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) claimed on Monday Russian forces destroyed two Ukrainian military units that crossed into Russian territory.
The Russian military said it killed five suspected 'saboteurs' who crossed into Russia's Rostov region and also destroyed two armoured vehicles and took a Ukrainian serviceman prisoner.
Ukraine dismissed the claims saying no such clash had taken place involving its troops, having earlier disputed Russia's claim Ukraine's forces had destroyed a Russian military checkpoint.
Officials said no troops were missing in the region, while Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba took to social media to deny Moscow’s claims, writing: ‘Russia, stop your fake-producing factory now.’Ukrainian military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Pavlo Kovalchuk said: 'This whole flase claim of a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance team being caught somewhere near the Russian border is completely false.'
Ukrainian Border Guard spokesman Andriy Demchenko dismissed the claim as 'disinformation.'
Helmet-cam footage of the alleged incident was posted online and shared on social media.
It was claimed that it was filmed by soldiers in the Ukrainian units allegedly in Russia, with the footage being seized by Russian troops and posted online by officials.
The video showed a 'soldier' following an armoured vehicle through a field, and was filmed on a camera by another person following them holding a weapon.
As the group passed down a dirt track, shots can be heard being fired, and the two people in military gear run down the road and dive to the floor.
Another video reportedly showed the armoured vehicle in flames, and was posted by state-controlled broadcaster Russia Today. Others on twitter pointed out that the vehicle shown in the second video did not match that seen in the first
But experts said digital locators embedded in online videos about the supposed incident, along with another alleged attack, showed both had been filmed in the same area, despite Russian claims that they took place far apart.
Elliot Higgins, founder of investigative journalism website Bellingcat, shared the footage and claimed the video was 'fabricated'.
He said his publication had been able to geo-locate where the footage was filmed through landmarks shown in the video, writing on Twitter that it was filmed inside separatist territory on the border with Russia.
Others questioned the legitimacy of the footage as well, with Oliver Alexander - another journalist and analyst - writing: 'They have now released 'helmet cam' footage for the claimed incursion by Ukrainian troops.
'Because if you are going sneak into Russia to perform sabotage, you of course bring a helmet cam and BTRs,' he added sarcastically.
Another video reportedly showed the armoured vehicle in flames, and was posted by state-controlled broadcaster Russia Today. Others on twitter pointed out that the vehicle shown in the second video did not match that seen in the first.On Monday, Ukraine dismissed a Russian claim that its forces had shelled a border post, denouncing it as 'fake news' designed to inflame tensions.
The FSB had earlier alleged that a projectile fired from Ukraine had destroyed a border facility used by its guards.
Video released by the FSB showed a small, apparently one-room shed with its roof and walls caved in and a Russian flag leaning against strewn debris.
But Ukraine's spokesman for its joint military operation against Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine was unimpressed by the Russian allegation.
'They conduct different provocations and produce fake news every day, even a couple of times per day,' Kovalchuk told reporters in Kramatorsk.
'We couldn't stop them producing this fake news, but we always emphasise that we do not shoot at civilian infrastructure,' he said.
'We don't use artillery to shoot back at occupation forces,' he added, referring to the Moscow-backed rebels holding parts of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.
Moscow was accused last night of producing Hollywood-style ‘fake news’ videos to inflame tensions with Ukraine.
News bulletins in Russia yesterday were full of reports of shelling and other apparent provocations by Ukraine that were unverified or denied by the West and Kiev.
One video, released by the DPR in eastern Ukraine, appeared to show a man pretending his leg had been blown off by a Ukrainian artillery strike.
A video released by the Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine, showed a man pretending his leg had been blown off by a Ukrainian artillery strikeIt was mocked online as it showed the man's left leg, supposedly blown off under the knee, was already a prosthetic with the lower half detached. The video was later removed from social media.
Another clip from Russian state TV station Rossiya 1 showed a senior war correspondent in Donetsk claiming the city was coming under fire from Ukrainian shelling and that a Ukrainian invasion was imminent.
Washington has repeatedly warned that Moscow is trying to justify a planned invasion by planting fake stories of Ukrainian aggression.
Latvia’s foreign minister Edgars Rinkevics told Bloomberg: ‘It’s all made up like a Hollywood movie.’
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said there had been a ‘proliferation of false flag operations, propaganda stunts and Russian news outlets carrying fictitious allegations’.
Social media experts have debunked several videos put out by Moscow by analysing embedded data.
For example, footage of a car allegedly loaded with explosives to attack Ukrainians fleeing to Russia had data showing it had been filmed in 2019.
Ukraine has even accused Russia of taking corpses from morgues to use in incidents of fake attacks blamed on Kiev.
Moscow claimed yesterday it had killed five Ukrainian ‘saboteurs’ who allegedly crossed the border to stage an attack
Another video, released by the People’s Militia of the Donetsk People’s Republic on February 18, claimed 'Polish saboteurs' were planning to blow up a tank.
Bellingcat's Higgins discovered the audio matched another video uploaded to YouTube in 2010.
Christo Grozev, Bellingcat’s executive director, tweeted: 'If you’re wondering if [the] Kremlin’s poorly executed war propaganda works on its domestic audience: sadly, it does.
'Have been talking to young people from Russia’s countryside. They are convinced Ukraine is shelling.'
Referring to the video of the man pretending his leg had been blown off, analyst Oliver Alexander said: 'The propaganda is reaching crazy levels.'
UK health secretary Sajid Javid said this morning that Russia has invaded Ukraine.
A column of armoured vehicles was spotted in Donetsk, the main city of one of the two so-called 'republics', in the early hours of this morning.
A tank drives along a street after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the deployment of Russian troops to two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine
A tank, believed to be Russian, is spotted on a street near the city of Donetsk in separatist-held regions of eastern Ukraine
A military truck drives along a street after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the deployment of Russian troops
No insignia were visible on the vehicles, but there is little doubt they are Russian forces deployed on Putin's orders.
'We are waking up to a very dark day in Europe,' Javid said early Tuesday. 'We have seen that Putin has recognised breakaway eastern regions in Ukraine and from the reports we can already tell that he has sent in tanks and troops. From that you can conclude that the invasion of Ukraine has begun.'
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, speaking moments later, said a 'first barrage of UK economic sanctions against Russia' will be revealed today - though stopped short of calling last night's move an 'invasion', saying instead that Putin is 'bent on a full scale invasion.'
Before Putin's order, world leaders including Joe Biden and Johnson had made it clear that any Russian incursion, no matter how limited, into Ukrainian territory would be considered a fresh invasion and spark an unprecedented flurry of sanctions. But the word 'invasion' was barely mentioned overnight and action was limited.
Biden banned all new US trade with the breakaway regions but stopped far short of the 'swift and decisive' response that had been threatened. White House spokesman Jen Psaki promised more sanctions will follow later.
US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield leads international condemnation of Russia at an emergency session of the UN security council convened in New York after he recognised parts of eastern Ukraine as independent
Russian President Vladimir Putin signs a document recognising the independence of separatist regions in eastern Ukraine in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on Monday
Josep Borrell, the EU's foreign policy chief, also avoided the word as he vowed sanctions against Russia today - acknowledging 'Russian troops are on Ukrainian soil' but adding: 'I wouldn't say that's a fully fledged invasion'.
Even Volodymyr Zelensky, president of Ukraine, avoided it in a 2am address to the nation, speaking instead of a 'violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine'.
General Sir Richard Sherriff, Britain's former top NATO commander, was more forthcoming - telling the BBC: 'This is the invasion of a sovereign country which could turn into a catastrophic war with warfare on a scale not seen in Europe since 1945. I think it's difficult to overstate the seriousness of the situation.'
Ukraine foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, speaking this morning, demanded 'harsh' penalties for Russia's actions.
Eyes will now be on the eastern frontlines to see exactly how far Putin is willing to test the West's resolve. In recognising Donetsk and Luhansk as independent, it was not clear whether he meant the parts currently occupied by separatist troops or the wider regions, which could mean rolling troops into a much larger piece of territory.
There are also strong doubts about whether Putin will stop at recognising the two 'republics'.
In an nerve-jangling 65 minute speech to the Russian nation before signing his order, the strongman leader seemed to be laying out a case for seizing the whole of Ukraine - arguing it has no history of statehood, was 'created by Lenin', is a corrupt US and NATO vassal, and has been directly threatening Russia's security.
Ukraine has been fighting separatists since 2014, when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula after street protests in Kyiv overthrew a pro-Moscow president.
More than 14,000 people have already died in the fighting.
Kyiv's Western allies have warned in recent weeks of an escalation in the conflict with Russia massing more than 150,000 troops around Ukraine.
The southern Rostov region, where the FSB said the shelling took place, declared a state of emergency last week over an anticipated influx of civilians from the rebel-controlled territories.
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