Biden Accuses Russia Of ‘False Flag' Attacks To Justify Ukraine Strike ‘Within Days'

A series of missile and artillery attacks in Ukraine are “false flag operations” carried out by Russia in preparation for an invasion of the country by Vladimir Putin, western leaders have claimed – in a volatile day of bitter accusations and counter recriminations.

- Kim Sengupta

Even as what may be the last rounds of diplomatic talks to prevent a conflict were underway, Joe Biden warned that a Russian attack is almost inevitable. “Every indication that we have is that they are prepared to go into Ukraine, attack Ukraine. My sense is it will happen within the next several days,” said the US president.

Signs that the Kremlin may be ready to start military action – after weeks of tension, and building up of its forces around Ukraine’s borders – a number of attacks took place across the Donbas region, in the east of the country yesterday.

In one barrage, Russian-backed separatist forces hit a nursery school in the city of Stanytsia Luhanska. The children, who were in another part of the building were unhurt, but three people were injured. In another attack a woman was reportedly injured in the village of Marinka.

In the Stanytsia Luhanska shelling, nursery worker Natalia Slesareva said she was thrown against a door by the shell blast that blew a hole in the wall of a two-storey building being used by more than 20 children and a number of staff.

“The children were eating breakfast when it hit. It hit the gym. After breakfast, the children had gym class … So another 15 minutes, and everything could have been much, much worse,” she told the AFP news agency

Media in Russia and the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk sought to claim that it was the Ukrainian forces who had started firing first using, in some cases, Javelin missiles newly supplied by America. Nato states and the Ukrainian government denied the Russian claims, with president Volodymyr Zelensky calling the nursery school attack a “great provocation”.