Russia is preparing to stage a major atrocity with significant human casualties which it will blame on Ukraine, Kyiv’s foreign intelligence service has claimed.
The aim is to disrupt Donald Trump’s peace drive and carry on the war, it is alleged.
The feared massacre could come as Russians mark Orthodox Christmas Eve and Christmas Day on 6 and 7 January, according to the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine [FISU].
‘With a high degree of probability, we predict a shift from manipulative influence to an armed provocation by Russia’s security services, with significant loss of life,’ said the agency which is headed by Lt-Gen Oleh Ivashchenko.
‘The expected timing is immediately before or during the celebration of Christmas according to the Julian calendar.
‘The site of the provocation could be a place of worship or another object with high symbolic value, both in Russia and in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
‘To fabricate “evidence” of Ukraine’s involvement, it is planned to use fragments of Western-made strike [drones], which would be delivered to the location of the provocation from the line of contact.’
The FISU warned: ‘Exploiting fear and carrying out terrorist acts with casualties “under a false flag” fully corresponds to the working style of Russia’s security services.
‘Putin’s regime has repeatedly used this tactic inside the Russian Federation, and now the same model is being exported abroad, which is indirectly confirmed by public statements from senior Russian officials.’
The statement said another recent ‘false flag’ was an alleged Ukrainian drone surge on a Vladimir Putin palace in Russia’s Novgorod region.
‘After the so-called ‘attack on Putin’s residence’, we have recorded the Kremlin spreading new fabricated information pretexts to prepare Russian and foreign audiences for further escalation,’ said the Ukrainian foreign intelligence statement.
‘The Kremlin is continuing a special operation aimed at derailing peace talks mediated by the United States.
‘This operation is comprehensive in nature.’
Earlier this week, the Kremlin has claimed that Ukraine attempted to attack Vladimir Putin ‘s residence in a long-range drone attack hours after Donald Trump hailed progress in peace talks.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that Kyiv had attempted to attack President Putin’s remote retreat in the Novgorod region and so Moscow’s negotiating position would change, Interfax reported.
‘Such reckless actions will not go unanswered,’ Lavrov was quoted as saying, adding that the attack involved 91 long-range drones.
Zelensky has denied the claims, calling them ‘lies’.
It was not immediately clear if Putin was in the residence at the time.
The attempted attack came as the warring countries edge closer to signing a peace deal after almost four years of conflict.
Trump on Sunday celebrated the success of his highly anticipated peace talks with Zelensky, revealing they are ‘very close’ to striking an agreement on all but ‘one or two thorny issues’.
The President had earlier welcomed the Ukrainian leader to his Mar-a-Lago estate with open arms when he arrived in Florida to discuss a 20-point plan aimed at ending the war with Russia.
Kyiv’s foreign intelligence service’s false-flag warning comes after the US State Department has renewed its ‘do not travel’ advisory for Russia.
There are a myriad of high risks related to terrorism, wrongful detention and ‘arbitrary enforcement of local laws’.
‘US citizens in Russia should leave immediately,’ it states.
‘Russian officials have questioned, threatened, and detained U.S. citizens without reason.’
