Russia ‘setting stage’ for Ukraine invasion

US intelligence officials have determined a Russian effort is under way to create a pretext for its troops to further invade Ukraine, and Moscow has already positioned its operatives to conduct “a false-flag operation” in eastern Ukraine, according to the White House.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday the intelligence findings show Russia is also laying the groundwork through a social media disinformation campaign that frames Ukraine as an aggressor that has been preparing an imminent attack against Russian-backed forces in eastern Ukraine.

Ms Psaki said Russia has already dispatched operatives trained in urban warfare who could use explosives to carry out sabotage against Russia’s own proxy forces – blaming the acts on Ukraine – if Vladimir Putin decides he wants to move forward with an invasion.

“We are concerned that the Russian government is preparing for an invasion in Ukraine that may result in widespread human rights violations and war crimes should diplomacy fail to meet their objectives,” Ms Psaki said.

The White House did not say how much confidence it has in the assessment.

Separately, officials have said a cyberattack left a number of Ukrainian government websites temporarily unavailable on Friday.

Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko told the Associated Press it was too soon to tell who could have been behind the attack, “but there is a long record of Russian cyber assaults against Ukraine in the past”. Moscow has previously denied involvement in cyberattacks against Ukraine.