Ukrainian saboteurs tried to enter Russia, says Moscow; Kyiv denies

Moscow/Paris, February 21

Moscow said on Monday that Ukrainian military saboteurs had tried to enter Russian territory in armed vehicles leading to five deaths, an accusation dismissed as “fake news” by Kyiv.

Both developments fit a pattern repeatedly predicted by western governments, who accuse Russia of preparing to fabricate a pretext to invade Ukraine by blaming Kyiv for attacks and relying on pleas for help from separatist proxies.

In Washington, President Joe Biden summoned a meeting with his top security advisers. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and General Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, could be seen entering the White House on the President’s Day holiday.

Washington says Russia has now massed a force numbering 1,69,000-1,90,000 troops in the region, including pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine, and could invade within days. It believes recognition of the rebel-held areas in the East could provide a pretext for Russian troops to cross the border into those areas.

Russia denies any such plan to attack its neighbour but has threatened unspecified “military-technical” action unless it receives sweeping security guarantees, including a promise that Ukraine will never join NATO.

Separatist rebellion

Ukraine’s Moscow-friendly President was driven from office by mass protests in February 2014. Russia responded by annexing Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and threw its weight behind an insurgency in the mostly Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine region known as Donbas.

In April 2014, Russia-backed rebels seized government buildings in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, proclaimed the creation of “people’s republics” and battled Ukrainian troops and volunteer battalions. The following month, the separatist regions held a popular vote to declare independence. — Reuters

Imran Khan to visit Russia tomorrow

Moscow/Islamabad: Prime Minister Imran Khan will visit Russia on February 23-24, the official Russian media has reported, signalling the first visit by a Pakistani premier to Moscow in 23 years. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that preparations for the visit of the Prime Minister Khan were underway, the state-run TASS news agency reported on Sunday.