Truss heads for Kiev voicing scepticism on Russian troop withdrawal claims

Liz Truss accused Russia of ‘blatant’ efforts to ‘fabricate pretexts for invasion’ today as she arrived in Ukraine to show solidarity – with Boris Johnson warning of ‘false flag operations’.

Amid rising fears that Vladimir Putin is preparing to send in forces, the Foreign Secretary said claims of ‘abnormal’ activity by Ukranian forces were ‘straight out of the Kremlin playbook’.

She condemned the shelling of a kindergarten by pro-Russian forces, urging Moscow to pursue diplomatic channels – and cautioned that Nato allies might need to accept ‘short-term pain for long-term gain’ by opposing the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. 

Meanwhile, on a visit to an RAF base in Lincolnshire Mr Johnson has said the kindergarten attack was a ‘false flag operation designed to discredit the Ukrainians’, adding: ‘We fear very much that that is a thing we will see more of over the next few days.’ 

The US has accused Russia of adding up to 7,000 troops near the Ukraine border despite Moscow insisting some units are returning to base after ‘exercises’. 

At a press conference alongside her Ukranian counterpart this afternoon, Ms Truss said she wanted to show the UK’s ‘steadfast support’.

‘I’m very impressed that, despite the Russian aggression towards Ukraine, that life here in Kyiv goes on and I am impressed by the level of stoicism, both from the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian government,’ she said.

‘We admire your fortitude in the face of Russian aggression and we stand with you in defence of your right to determine your own future.’

Despite it being a relatively mild 7 degrees C in Kiev, Ms Truss was again wearing the fur hat that was mocked by Russian propagandists on her trip to Moscow last week.

As she landed she tweeted: ‘Very concerned about reports today of increased Russian aggression: over 7,000 extra troops near the Ukraine border and an attack by pro-Russian troops on a kindergarten in Ukraine. 

‘(The UK) calls on Russia to withdraw its troops – there is still time for diplomacy and de-escalation.’

She vowed to keep calling out ‘disinformation’ from Moscow. 

‘Reports of alleged abnormal military activity by Ukraine in Donbas are a blatant attempt by the Russian government to fabricate pretexts for invasion,’ Ms Truss added.

‘This is straight out of the Kremlin playbook.’  

The kindergarten was struck during clashes between Russian-backed separatists and state forces in east Ukraine.

Separatist authorities in the Luhansk region claimed there had been an increase in Ukrainian shelling along the tense line of contact, describing it as a ‘large-scale provocation’ and they then returned fire.

The Kyiv government disputed the claim, saying that separatists had shelled its forces but they did not fire back

A nursery building in Stanytsia Luhanska was hit, wounding two civilians, according to the Ukrainian military.

In other developments in the standoff today: 

  • Mr Johnson – who is due to attend a security conference in Munich over the weekend – said the UK was working to strengthen the package of sanctions being readied in case Russia does go ahead with an invasion;
  • The premier said Russia would be ‘mad’ to invade and urged countries such as Germany to change gas supplies so it cannot be ‘blackmailed’ by Moscow any more; 
  • US secretary of state Antony Blinken said it is believed Russia is planning to launch an attack against Ukraine in the coming days; 
  • US defence secretary Lloyd Austin has said Russia is continuing to send troops to the border zone with Ukraine, and warned that they would not be taking measures such as stocking up on blood supplies for ‘no reason; 
  • Defence minister James Heappey warned ahead of the shelling attack that a Russian invasion is now ‘very, very imminent – if not inevitable’ based on satellite images showing that forces continue to build at the border.
  • Images show a new pontoon bridge has been built hundreds of miles away across the Pripyat River in Belarus, close to Chernobyl and around 80 miles north of Kiev amid fears it could be used as an invasion route; 
  • Video emerged purporting to show a thick column of smoke rising from the Russian embassy in Kiev, raising fears that sensitive documents are being burned before diplomats evacuate.
Despite it being a relatively mild 7 degrees C in Kiev, Liz Truss was again defiantly wearing the fur hat that was mocked by Russian propagandists on her trip to Moscow last week

Despite it being a relatively mild 7 degrees C in Kiev, Liz Truss was again defiantly wearing the fur hat that was mocked by Russian propagandists on her trip to Moscow last week

At a press conference alongside her Ukranian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba (left) in Kiev this afternoon, Liz Truss said she wanted to show the UK's 'steadfast support'

At a press conference alongside her Ukranian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba (left) in Kiev this afternoon, Liz Truss said she wanted to show the UK’s ‘steadfast support’

Ms Truss (pictured laying flowers at the Holodomor Monument in Kiev today) is in Ukraine with the situation still on a knife-edge

Ms Truss (pictured laying flowers at the Holodomor Monument in Kiev today) is in Ukraine with the situation still on a knife-edge

Ms Truss condemned the shelling of a kindergarten by pro-Russian forces (pictured), urging Moscow to pursue diplomatic channels

Ms Truss condemned the shelling of a kindergarten by pro-Russian forces (pictured), urging Moscow to pursue diplomatic channels

Boris Johnson met personnel at Royal Air Force Station Waddington in Lincolnshire today

Boris Johnson met personnel at Royal Air Force Station Waddington in Lincolnshire today

Liz Truss hit out at Russian efforts to 'fabricate pretexts for invasion' as she arrived in Ukraine this afternoon

Liz Truss hit out at Russian efforts to ‘fabricate pretexts for invasion’ as she arrived in Ukraine this afternoon

Ukraine forces conduct training exercises in the Kharkiv region earlier this month

Ukraine forces conduct training exercises in the Kharkiv region earlier this month

Ms Truss said the military build-up shows 'no signs of slowing', and voiced concerns that Vladimir Putin (pictured) will drag the crisis out for 'months' to destabilise Nato

Ms Truss said the military build-up shows ‘no signs of slowing’, and voiced concerns that Vladimir Putin (pictured) will drag the crisis out for ‘months’ to destabilise Nato

Artillery opened fire at multiple points along the frontline between Ukraine and Russia-backed rebels in the country's east today, with at least two locations hit with witnesses reporting hearing artillery firing at a third

Artillery opened fire at multiple points along the frontline between Ukraine and Russia-backed rebels in the country’s east today, with at least two locations hit with witnesses reporting hearing artillery firing at a third

Artillery fire rings out in eastern Ukraine as two schools are hit with Kiev’s forces and Russian-backed rebels blaming each other 

Artillery fire rang out in eastern Ukraine today as Kiev’s forces and Moscow-backed rebels each blamed the other for the shooting, as NATO warned Russia is trying to stage a pretext for the invasion of Ukraine. 

A kindergarten in the village of Stanytsia Luhanska was struck first – around 9am local time – with Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba saying rebels shelled the building which is located close to the frontline on Kiev’s side. The military said two civilians were hurt and half the settlement left without electricity. 

Around an hour later Ukraine reported more shelling at Popasna – around 50 miles from Stanytsia Luhanska – saying that a school and a two nearby houses were hit. No injuries were immediately reported.

But Russian rebels attempted to flip the script, claiming Ukrainian troops had actually fired at them as pro-Kremlin social media accounts claimed the kindergarten was on their side of the frontline. 

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg and UK defence secretary Liz Truss both spoke out to accuse Moscow of trying to stage a false flag operation to justify an invasion – fears that worsened as Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov issued a statement blaming Ukraine for the attacks and calling for Kiev to step back. 

James Heappy, UK armed forces minister, warned ahead of the shelling attack that a Russian invasion is now ‘very, very imminent – if not inevitable’ based on satellite images showing that forces continue to build at the border.

The images showed a new pontoon bridge has been built hundreds of miles away across the Pripyat River in Belarus, close to Chernobyl and around 80 miles north of Kiev amid fears it could be used as an invasion route. It is located close to where Russian tanks and artillery units have been taking part in training drills. 

Meanwhile video emerged purporting to show a thick column of smoke rising from the Russian embassy in Kiev, raising fears that sensitive documents are being burned before diplomats evacuate. 

The Kremlin denies it has any plans to invade Ukraine and has released footage which it claimed showed troops and equipment pulling back from locations near Ukraine following the completion of military exercises. 

But a senior White House official said 7,000 extra troops had been deployed and there had been a marked increase in false claims by Russians, including reports of unmarked graves of civilians allegedly killed by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. 

Speaking about the latest developments from Ukraine on a visit to RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, Mr Johnson said: ‘I wish I could give everybody better news about this, but I have to tell you that the picture is continuing to be very grim.

‘Today, as I’m sure you’ve already picked up, a kindergarten was shelled in what we are taking to be – well, we know – was a false flag operation designed to discredit the Ukrainians, designed to create a pretext, a spurious provocation for Russian action.

‘We fear very much that that is the kind of thing we will see more of over the next few days.

‘What we are doing is making that we do everything to strengthen the package of sanctions that will follow immediately should there be a Russian invasion.’

Mr Johnson said that Mr Putin would be ‘mad’ to invade, and underlined the need for countries such as Germany to reduce reliance on Russian gas so they were not open to ‘blackmail’.  

‘What we’ve got to do, and I’ve said this before, is we’ve got to end the dependence of the West, and Europeans in particular, on Russian hyrdocarbons,’ he said.

‘We can’t be blackmailed this way by Vladimir Putin – we’ve got to end that.

‘I just want to say one thing finally about what’s happening in Ukraine – there is still time for the Putin regime to step back.

‘There is still time to avoid a catastrophe, a catastrophe for Russia, a catastrophe for Ukraine and for the world.

‘If Russia were so mad as to invade, I don’t think people should imagine that this would be a brief business.

‘This would be a bloody and protracted conflict in which, I’m afraid, there will be many casualties and including many Russian casualties. I just hope that people in Russia can see that.’

At a press conference in Kiev, Ms Truss said Russia was ‘clearly the aggressor’ in the reported shelling of the kindergarten.

‘We are very clear the aggressor in this situation is Russia. We will continue to call out false flag operations,’ she said.

‘We will continue to call out their cyber attacks, and their attempts to undermine Ukraine which is a democratic sovereign country which Russia agreed to respect in various agreements.’

Ms Truss said ‘bullies only respond to strength’ and the West needs to ‘wise up’.

She said: ‘For years now, Russia has been building its capabilities, violating its commitments and probing our weaknesses.

‘The West needs to wise up. We need to work together to discredit their arguments in public.’

In a speech after the press conference she argued that Russia’s ‘belligerence’ had ‘only accelerated’ the desire for other nations to join the Nato alliance.

‘Their campaign of hybrid warfare across Europe has brought cyber attacks, attempts to undermine elections, and the use of chemical and radiological weapons on the streets of London and Salisbury,’ she said in a speech in Kyiv.

The Foreign Secretary accused Moscow of supporting ‘destabilising’ forces in Africa and breaking nuclear missile commitments.

‘This is one of the most destabilising developments of the last decade,’ she added. 

Mr Austin said Russia is continuing to send troops to the border zone with Ukraine.

Speaking at Nato headquarters in Brussels, Mr Austin said: ‘We see them add to the more than 150,000 troops that they already have arrayed on that border even in the last couple of days.

‘We have seen those troops inch closer, we see them fly in more combat and support aircraft, we see them sharpen their readiness in the Black Sea. We even see them stocking up their blood supplies. You don’t do these sort of things for no reason.’

Mr Austin said claims by Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine that they had come under shelling from Ukrainian forces were ‘troubling’. The Ukrainians have denied the claims.

‘We have seen the reports of the shelling. They are certainly troubling. We are still gathering the details. We have said for some time the Russians might do something like this in order to justify a military conflict, so we will be watching this very closely,’ Mr Austin said.

In an article for the Telegraph before her departure, Ms Truss cautioned that Mr Putin is ‘testing our mettle’.

‘We must not be lulled into a false sense of security by Russia claiming that some troops are returning to their barracks, while in fact the Russian military build-up shows no signs of slowing,’ she wrote.

‘We must have no illusions that Russia could drag this out much longer in a brazen ploy to spend weeks more – if not months – subverting Ukraine and challenging Western unity. This is a test of our mettle.’

Ms Truss will use a speech in Kyiv to say the ‘path of diplomacy’ remains open if Moscow really does want a peaceful resolution to the crisis.

‘But we are very clear – if they decide to continue down the path of aggression, there will be massive consequences, bringing Russia severe economic costs and pariah status,’ she will say. 

Mr Heappey told LBC that whether or not Mr Putin decides to launch an invasion: ‘I think we have to be clear that we are entering a new period of acute competition with Russia that could last a generation or more.’

Nato’s defence ministers, meeting in Brussels, were joined by counterparts from Ukraine and Georgia to show support for the two states.

Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said: ‘There are signs from Moscow that diplomacy could continue but so far we have not seen any sign of withdrawal or de-escalation.

‘Russia has yet again demonstrated a disregard for the principles underpinning European security and its ability and willingness to threaten the use of force in pursuit of its objectives.’

Moscow has repeatedly denied that it has any intention of attacking Ukraine, despite massing an estimated 130,000 troops along the border, and it has mocked reports in the West which had suggested an invasion could have been launched on Wednesday.

Russia’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyanskiy, dismissed the claims as ‘fantasies’ by Western politicians.

‘This is a very ridiculous situation, there has been hysteria, even hype, fanned for several weeks by our Western colleagues,’ he told ITV’s Peston programme.

A satellite image reveals that a new pontoon bridge has been constructed across the Pripyat River in Belarus (left), around 80 miles north of Kiev amid fears it could be used to provide an attack route to the capital

A satellite image reveals that a new pontoon bridge has been constructed across the Pripyat River in Belarus (left), around 80 miles north of Kiev amid fears it could be used to provide an attack route to the capital 

Another satellite showed the construction of a large field hospital (brown tents, centre of the image) at the Osipovichi training area in Belarus, raising fears an invasion could be imminent

Another satellite showed the construction of a large field hospital (brown tents, centre of the image) at the Osipovichi training area in Belarus, raising fears an invasion could be imminent 

Video purports to show smoke rising over the Russian embassy in Kiev, sparking fears that diplomats could be burning sensitive documents before evacuating

Video purports to show smoke rising over the Russian embassy in Kiev, sparking fears that diplomats could be burning sensitive documents before evacuating

Helicopters take part in joint military drills between Belarusian and Russian forces in Belarus today at the Osipovichsky training ground, around 160 miles north of the Ukraine border

Helicopters take part in joint military drills between Belarusian and Russian forces in Belarus today at the Osipovichsky training ground, around 160 miles north of the Ukraine border

Mr Johnson tried a military plane for size during his visit to the RAF base in Lincolnshire today

Mr Johnson tried a military plane for size during his visit to the RAF base in Lincolnshire today

Mr Johnson chats with military personnel at RAF Station Waddington in Lincolnshire today

Mr Johnson chats with military personnel at RAF Station Waddington in Lincolnshire today

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace (right) speaks to Ukrainian Ambassador to Nato Natalia Galibarenko (left) in Brussels today

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace (right) speaks to Ukrainian Ambassador to Nato Natalia Galibarenko (left) in Brussels today

UK defence minister James Heappey has warned that the period of 'acute competition' between Russia and the West 'could last a generation or more'

UK defence minister James Heappey has warned that the period of ‘acute competition’ between Russia and the West ‘could last a generation or more’

Mr Johnson was shown around the facility in Lincolnshire this afternoon

Mr Johnson was shown around the facility in Lincolnshire this afternoon

Protesters clash with police in central Kiev today, as part of a march of small business owners to demand extra support as the economy suffers amidst the threat of war

Protesters clash with police in central Kiev today, as part of a march of small business owners to demand extra support as the economy suffers amidst the threat of war

‘They convinced each other and the whole world that Russia was about to invade, they were even naming concrete dates. So it happened in their minds, in their heads.’

Although an invasion of Ukraine is unlikely to result in British troops fighting, as the country is not a Nato member, Russia’s military build-up has caused anxiety among eastern members of the alliance.

UK forces have been committed to efforts to bolster defences in Nato’s eastern flank.

Britain has already said it is doubling the number of troops in Estonia, with around 850 members of The Royal Welsh battlegroup heading from Sennelager in Germany and bases in Europe for the Baltic state, while 350 Royal Marine commandos are being despatched to Poland.

Four additional RAF Typhoon jets are heading to Cyprus to join Nato patrols over eastern Europe while offshore patrol vessel HMS Trent will shortly be joined in the eastern Mediterranean by HMS Diamond, a Type 45 destroyer.

A Russian attack helicopter is pictured landing in Belgorod, around 20 miles north of the Ukraine border

A Russian attack helicopter is pictured landing in Belgorod, around 20 miles north of the Ukraine border

An image put out by Russian state media purporting to show bodies of civilians exhumed from a mass grave in Donbas being reburied in what the US warns could be a false flag to justify an invasion

An image put out by Russian state media purporting to show bodies of civilians exhumed from a mass grave in Donbas being reburied in what the US warns could be a false flag to justify an invasion

source: dailymail.co.uk