The United States on Wednesday reiterated that an attack on Ukraine can happen any time now and that such an invasion would be justified by Russia under the guise of a “fabricated pretext.”
“We’re in the window where we believe an attack could come at any time, and that would be preceded by a fabricated pretext that the Russians use as an excuse to launch an invasion,” White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said in a press brief in reference to Russia’s claims of mass graves in Ukraine’s Donbas region.
The US also cautioned that states, international organizations and the media must critically examine claims by Russia such as alleged mass graves in Ukraine or any other false-flag undertakings. “we’ve seen these tactics used in the past. So those could include, but not be limited to, the report you just referenced, claims of provocation in Donbas, false state media reports — which I think you should all — everybody should keep their eyes open and aware of that potential — fake videos, false accusations about chemical weapons or accounts of attacks on Russian soldiers that have not actually occurred,” spokesperson Psaki further said.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov on Wednesday said that his country’s banks and government websites have been hit by massive cyberattacks. “All the authorities responsible for cybersecurity worked to counter these attacks and eliminate them” Interfax-Ukraine news agency quoted Fedorov saying. Regarding this incident, the US has said that it reached out to Ukraine with technical support to restore the websites. “… we have also been in close touch with our Ukrainian counterparts to offer support in the investigation and response to these incidents. You may have seen the statement from the Ukraine Ministry of Defense that the United States and other partners immediately reached out with support and that some sites are coming back online,” spokesperson Psaki further said.
Also read| Chile declares state of emergency due to migratory crisis
Russia has denied its involvement in cyberattacks. “We do not know anything. As expected, Ukraine continues blaming Russia for everything. Russia has nothing to do with any DDOS attacks,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was quoted by AFP as saying.
