The Kremlin masterminded a fake military drawback from the border with Ukraine as part of a broader plan to disguise Russia’s true intentions to invade, The Washington Post has claimed, citing anonymous US intelligence sources.
In a report published on Thursday, the American outlet also said that the same plot also includes ongoing military exercises, alongside a future false-flag attack in Donbass or inside Russia. The plan is meant to both conceal and justify an invasion of Ukraine, the sources claimed.
According to four anonymous US officials, Russia’s announced troop withdrawal from Ukraine’s border was a “deliberate ruse to mislead the United States and other world powers.”
The intelligence community assessment echoes the words of US President Joe Biden. Earlier on Thursday, speaking to reporters at the White House, Biden said that the threat of invasion remains “very high,” claiming that Moscow is probably going to attack Ukraine “in the next several days.”