US warns of Russia plotting ‘false flag’ operation to provoke Ukraine invasion

The US has intelligence suggesting Russian operatives have been deployed to conduct a “false flag” attack in eastern Ukraine that will act as a signal for Moscow to invade its western neighbor, the White House said Friday.

Press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that the operatives had been tapped to carry out “sabotage attacks” against Russian proxies in the region and added that Moscow’s “influence actors” had begun to “fabricate Ukrainian provocations in state and social media to justify a Russian intervention.”

The Kremlin has kept thousands of troops in...