US Intelligence Says Russia Could Make Propaganda Videos As Pretext For Invasion Of Ukraine

Illustration of the Russian military on the border with Ukraine. (Wikimedia Commons/varlamov.ru/Ilya Varlamov)

JAKARTA - US intelligence agencies believe Russia has plans to fabricate a pretext for an invasion of Ukraine, potentially by producing propaganda videos showing staged attacks, the United States said on Thursday.

The United States accuses Russia of formulating several options to give it a pretext for an invasion of Ukraine amid rising tensions with Western countries.

One option is a fake video showing images after the explosion targeting Russians, featuring bodies, mourners and equipment that appear to belong to Ukraine or allied countries, State Department spokesman Ned Price and a Biden administration official said.

"The video will be released to underscore the threat to Russia's security and to support military operations," the official said.

"This video, if released, could give (Russian President Vladimir) Putin the spark he needs to initiate and justify a military operation against Ukraine."

The TASS news agency, citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, responded to reports Russia would launch a fake attack by Ukraine by saying: "This is not the first report. Similar things have been said before. But nothing has come out."

US officials said they published the most specific allegations of possible Russian propaganda to "block" Moscow from following through on such a plan.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price. (Wikimedia Commons/US Department of State)

They said it was not clear whether Russia had decided to take such a step, or whether it had decided whether to attack Ukraine.

"The production of this propaganda video is one of a number of options the Russian government is developing as a false pretext to initiate and potentially justify military aggression against Ukraine," Price told reporters.

"We don't know if Russia will use this or another option in the coming days." Price declined to provide more specifics or video evidence.

Meanwhile, US Deputy National Security Adviser Jonathan Finer said in a media interview that the United States does not know for certain whether this is the route Russia will take.

Separately, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said on Twitter that the US intelligence was "clear and shocking evidence of Russia's unwarranted aggression and devious activity to destabilize Ukraine."

For information, Russia accused the United States of escalating tensions and ignoring Moscow's calls to ease the standoff over Ukraine, a day after Washington announced it would send nearly 3.000 additional troops to Poland and Romania.

In addition, Russia has denied any planned invasion but has amassed thousands of troops on its border with Ukraine.