People walk towards the memorial to the Donbass Liberators in the rebel-held city of Donetsk, Ukraine
Moscow:
Pro-Russian separatists on Saturday said they had discovered Kyiv’s plan to seize territory they control in eastern Ukraine by force, and paraded a man they believe to be a Ukrainian spy. .
Authorities in the Ukrainian capital are quick to dismiss the alleged scheme as a forgery and dismiss past accusations of espionage, but such reports are contributing to heightened tensions.
There is growing concern in Kyiv and the West that a false flag campaign – an act carried out with the aim of blaming another party – could be staged in eastern Ukraine and used as an excuse to Russia attack.
Russia, which has concentrated its forces near Ukraine, has denied the invasion plan and denied rumors of false flag operations.
However, they said they were very concerned about the situation and that separatist authorities in eastern Ukraine began a mass evacuation on Friday, citing fears of a Ukrainian attack.
Ukrainian authorities deny planning any form of attack and fear that efforts to pretext a Russian invasion are increasing.
Separatists in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic said on Saturday they had blocked a plan to “purge” the pro-Russian Russian-speaking region as part of a five-day campaign to capture it. by violence.
In an interview aired on Russia’s state television channel Channel One, a man the separatists said they had detained in the city of Donetsk said he helped Ukraine blow up a jeep. of the rebel commander the night before and he was smuggling weapons and explosives.
“I was hired in 2018,” he is shown saying.
He said his handler had told him to stay away from high-rise apartment blocks in the city of Donetsk because it would be a target for artillery fire and he was in danger of being killed.
‘Hostility and inflammation’
Russian-backed rebels seized a swath of eastern Ukraine and Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 after protests toppled Ukraine’s pro-Russian leader. Kyiv says more than 14,000 people have been killed in the conflict in the east.
In the breakaway Luhansk region, local authorities said Saturday, a vehicle stuffed with explosives was found parked on a road used to evacuate people to Russia.
Authorities in the region also said explosions tore through a local gas pipeline and a gas station the night before and described them as acts of sabotage they suspect Ukraine was behind.
In other incidents on Saturday, Russia’s FSB security service said two projectiles landed in Russian territory near the border, Russia’s Tass news agency reported. It said one person crashed into a building in the Rostov region but no one was injured.
Ukraine’s military accuses Russia of faking images of bullet casings to make them Ukrainian, and says mercenaries have traveled to separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine to carry out coordinated provocations. of 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 about the growing rhetoric on Wednesday. Six.
They said in a joint statement: “We welcome the spread of misinformation about an impending military action by Ukrainian government forces; this seriously affects civilians in the region.” conflict”.
“The increasingly hostile and inflammatory rhetoric we are hearing lately undermines efforts to promote peace, stability and security, and increases the risk of confrontation and further escalation. It must stop.”
Moscow expressed surprise at this statement and questioned the fairness of the OSCE.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and was automatically generated from the feed provided.)
