“Attempt to exert pressure”: how Russia reacted to new US accusations because of the situation around Ukraine

The latest US statements about Russia's allegedly "imminent invasion" of Ukraine are a new round of disinformation campaign against Moscow, said Anatoly Antonov, Russian Ambassador to the United States.

He recalled that the Russian side has repeatedly stated that there are no "any plans of aggression against the fraternal Ukrainian people."

“In our written response to the answer to the American side on security guarantees, handed over on February 17, it is unequivocally stated: there is no “Russian invasion” of Ukraine, which the United States and its allies have been saying at the official level since the fall of last year, and is not planned.

Allegations of Russia's responsibility for the escalation can only be regarded as an attempt to put pressure on and devalue Russia's proposals for security guarantees, ”the Russian Embassy quoted Antonov as saying on its official Facebook page. 

Nevertheless, the United States "stubbornly continues to inspire the public with outright lies," the diplomat stressed.

“Particularly bewildering is the new “stuffing” by American officials regarding the evacuation of citizens from the territory of the LPR and DPR.

Our willingness to host civilians in Donbass who fear for their lives is perceived by Washington as an element of propaganda aimed at justifying the “imminent invasion” of Ukraine,” Antonov said.

According to him, the authors of this kind of statements should personally visit the Donbass and get acquainted with the tragic consequences of the “military assistance” provided to Ukraine by the United States and its allies.

New set of accusations

We will remind, earlier the head of the White House, Joe Biden, said that Russian President Vladimir Putin allegedly decided to “invasion” into Ukraine.

The American leader claims that the Russian Federation will attack "in the coming days."

“Look, we have reason to believe that Russian forces are planning and intending to attack Ukraine in the coming week… in the coming days.

We believe that their target will be the capital of Ukraine, Kiev, a city in which 2.8 million innocent people live, ”Biden said.

According to him, the United States speaks "about Russia's plans loudly and often" allegedly not because they want conflict, but because they are doing everything possible to "eliminate any arguments that Russia can invoke to justify the invasion of Ukraine. ".

“In the past few days, we have seen reports of a significant increase in ceasefire violations by Russian-backed fighters seeking to provoke Ukraine in the Donbass,” the head of the White House says.

• White House chief Joe Biden

• © AP Photo/Alex Brandon

If the Russian Federation begins to implement "its plans, it will have a catastrophic and unnecessary war of choice on its conscience," the US president added.

“We will seek to ensure that Russia is responsible for its actions.

The West is united and determined.

We are ready to impose severe sanctions on Russia if it makes a further invasion of Ukraine,” Biden said.

He also emphasized that there are many problems that cause disagreements both in the United States and in the world, "but the issue of countering Russian aggression is not one of those."

Biden's speech was commented on by Vice Speaker of the Federation Council of Russia Konstantin Kosachev.

According to him, the statements of the head of the White House about provocations in the Donbass encourage a military operation on the Ukrainian side.

“This is a direct encouragement of the military operation on the part of Kiev, which the West is already covering up now and will obviously continue to do so in the future, if only to deal with Russia in any way.

Monstrous,” Kosachev wrote on Facebook.

In addition to Biden, accusations against the Russian Federation were also made by the Deputy Assistant to the President of the United States for National Security Ann Nyberger, who announced the possible involvement of Moscow in cyber attacks on Ukrainian banks.

“We believe that the Russian government is responsible for the large-scale cyberattacks that Ukrainian banks were subjected to this week.

The technical information we have indicates the involvement of Russia - (represented by.

) the Main Intelligence Directorate of Russia (GRU), since the GRU infrastructure was seen in the transfer of large volumes of communications to Ukrainian IP addresses and domains, ”says Nyberger, without citing any evidence.

According to her, the recent series of cyberattacks in Ukraine “while having a limited effect, is still consistent with what the Russian side’s efforts to prepare the ground for more destructive cyberattacks that would accompany a possible further invasion of the sovereign territory of Ukraine” could look like.

“Russia likes to operate in the shadows and expects to take advantage of the lengthy identification process to continue its malicious activities against Ukraine in cyberspace, including preparations for a possible invasion.

Therefore, we are trying to quickly identify the perpetrators of DDoS attacks, ”said Biden’s deputy assistant for national security.

The Russian Embassy in the United States has already categorically denied these allegations, calling them "groundless" and "blatantly anti-Russian."

“We categorically reject the administration’s baseless statements and note that Russia has nothing to do with the events mentioned and, in principle, has never conducted and does not conduct “malicious” operations in the virtual space,” the Russian Embassy in the United States said on its Twitter page.

2⃣ We categorically reject the unfounded statements of the administration and note that 🇬🇧 has nothing to do with the events mentioned and, in principle, has never carried out and does not conduct "malicious" operations in the virtual space.

— Embassy of Russia🇷🇺 in the USA (@RussiaInUSA) February 19, 2022

After that, the head of the Pentagon, Lloyd Austin, said in an interview with the ABC television channel that he did not consider the plans attributed to Russia to “invasion” to Ukraine to be a bluff.

In addition, earlier the State Department regarded the evacuation of Donbas residents to Russia as a pretext for a “false flag” operation against Ukraine.

"Leader in the demonization of the Russian Federation"

A new batch of accusations against Russia is aimed at fixing the image of an “aggressor” behind it and provoking Kiev to even more active military actions against the Donbass, experts believe.

“This is not just Washington’s propaganda directed against the Russian Federation, but a deliberate policy of the United States, the purpose of which is to push the Ukrainian authorities to much more aggressive actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Donbass.

For this, the pumping of Ukraine with American and Western weapons continues, ”said Konstantin Blokhin, a researcher at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in an interview with RT.

According to him, the collective West, led by the United States, has been creating a negative background around Russia “with special enthusiasm” in recent months, replicating accusations of plans to “invade” Ukraine.

“Washington has become a leader in the demonization of the Russian Federation, but now even hackneyed and unsubstantiated accusations of cyberattacks have come into play.

At the same time, it was the United States that created this scenario, according to which Ukraine chose the path of war in the Donbass.

Kiev defiantly ignores the Minsk agreements, showing the whole world that these agreements mean nothing to it, ”Blokhin emphasized.

At the same time, the analyst believes that Russia has done everything possible to maintain peace and international stability in the region.

“The Russian Federation, in order to reduce tension, withdrew most of the troops from the regions bordering Ukraine.

But the Kiev authorities took this step as a carte blanche for the resumption of artillery shelling in the Donbass, ”Blokhin stated.

He ruled out that Biden “deliberately broadcasts false information,” according to which the ceasefire was allegedly violated by the LPR and DPR.

“The White House believes that the military of both republics is supported by Russia.

However, Moscow has repeatedly stated that this conflict is purely internal Ukrainian.

But the US ignores this fact.

At the same time, the synchronization of actions between Washington and Kiev is striking.

After the resumption of the aggression of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Donbass, Biden delivered a speech about Russia and Ukraine.

Everything looks like the synchronization of clocks, ”the analyst argues.

In his opinion, Biden intends to present himself as a peacemaker and figure uniting the West.

“It’s not for nothing that the head of the White House speaks in plain text about the consolidation of the Western world against the backdrop of this whole story about accusations against the Russian Federation,” the expert explained.

In addition, from his point of view, in parallel with the information campaign about the alleged imminent “invasion” of Russia, it is easier for Washington to agitate European allies to impose sanctions against the Russian Federation.

“The escalation in the Donbass will serve as a pretext for new anti-Russian restrictions and increased political pressure on Russia.

All this is built into the general course of the United States to contain the Russian Federation, ”says the analyst.

• White House

• AP

• © Patrick Semansky

In turn, the deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics of the Moscow State Pedagogical University, Vladimir Shapovalov, in an interview with RT, noted that Washington “hit the bottom of its cynicism” with the next accusations against the Russian Federation.

“This is the height of cynicism to say that the people fleeing the war and the country hosting these people are to blame for something and that what is happening should become an excuse for some kind of “Russian aggression”.

The inhumane, inhumane attitude of the United States towards the people of Donbass is striking.

While the Russian-speaking population, primarily pensioners and children, is fleeing the war to Russia in the hope of waiting out the attacks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” says Shapovalov.

He considered it a manifestation of cynicism that the US authorities do not pay attention to the Ukrainian army, saturated with American and Western weapons, located both on the outskirts of the Donbass and in the region itself.

“The reaction of Washington to what is happening absolutely does not correspond to reality.

At the same time, the US propaganda campaign against the Russian Federation is gaining momentum and turns into hysteria in places, which is actually aimed at large-scale disinformation of the world community, ”the expert noted.

One of the main goals of this entire campaign, the analyst calls the devaluation of the initiatives of the Russian Federation on security guarantees.

“The current round of the US disinformation campaign is taking place against the background of the fact that Russia provided Washington with comments on its response to security guarantees offered by the Russian Federation.

The new Russian document lays out clear arguments with references to agreements and commitments on the part of the United States.

But Washington has nothing to cover, and therefore a new wave of information attacks on the Russian Federation began, ”Shapovalov summed up.