Ukraine crisis: the US is actively preparing for provocations and blaming Russia for them

Washington raises the stakes on Ukraine, throwing in marked cards. The game goes in several directions. Firstly, on the night of January 12-13, some "unknown" hackers "suddenly" hacked the websites of the Ukrainian government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the State Emergency Service and the Ministry of Energy.

A message appeared on the home page of the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine in several languages: "Ukrainian! All your personal data has been uploaded to the public network. All data on the computer is destroyed, it is impossible to restore it. All information about you has become public, be afraid and wait for the worst. This is for you for your past, present and future. For Volyn, for OUN-UPA, for Galicia, for the Polesie region and for historical lands."

This action immediately became the reason for the reaction of the USA and the EU. The White House has appealed to Kiev with a proposal to provide it with support and protect it from cyber attacks. At the same time, an informational cover operation began. The government radio station "Voice of America" (the media is a foreign agent) started a survey of "experts" with a clearly defined task to lay the blame for the hack on Russia.

On its airwaves, for example, such a statement was made by a certain deputy director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy, David Salvo, regarding the incident in Kiev: "This is a proven Russian tactic... They have been conducting massive cyberattacks on the Ukrainian infrastructure for a long time, as well as conducting information operations against Ukrainian soldiers and citizens of Ukraine."

At the same time, American lobbyists in the European Union were thrown into battle. The press secretary of the coordinating Minister of Polish intelligence, Stanisław Żaryn, and the Swedish Foreign Minister, Ann Linde, distinguished themselves here, saying that "Russian intelligence" could be behind the cyber attack. Their submission was accepted by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell.

"We are mobilising all our resources to help Ukraine cope with this type of cyberattack," Borrell said, making it clear who is "to blame”. According to him, there are suspicions that Russia is "behind the hack”. And although the High Representative admitted that "we have no evidence”, this did not prevent him from announcing an urgent meeting of the EU Policy and Security Committee and the activation of the EU rapid response cyber unit.

Secondly, intrigue began to be created by the US President's national security adviser Jake Sullivan, who on January 13 told reporters about the "high degree" of the probability of a second "invasion of Russia into Ukraine" and promised soon to share "details" about the "pretexts for it" that Moscow allegedly creates. The next day, his theses were developed by the official representative of the US Department of Defence, John Kirby.

He and another unnamed American official said that "Russian groups" in eastern Ukraine are preparing “provocations". These "groups" are trained to "conduct combat operations in urban conditions and use explosives for sabotage”. Such "operatives" can arrange "an attack on Russia or the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine”. And "Russian agents of influence" are ready to support "provocations" in the Ukrainian mass media and social networks.  

Western publications, which have joined the disinformation campaign directed against Russia, accompany it with reminders that just a few days ago, American and Russian representatives held a series of meetings to "discuss Moscow's security demands”, and "negotiations did not bring noticeable progress”. This is a frank hint to Russia that if it does not give up its demands, the escalation of the situation in Ukraine with the replication of anti-Russian accusations will only be intensified.

Finally, thirdly, as was reported by Reuters with reference to its sources, the American government discussed with several international energy companies the possibility of organising gas supplies to Europe "in emergency circumstances," that is, if "the conflict between Russia and Ukraine interrupts Russian supplies”.

Amos Hochstein, senior adviser to the US State Department on Energy Security, the agency continues, consulted with businessmen to find out who could close the hole in the absence of Russian gas. To which the companies replied: the world's resources are limited and there is not so much gas that can replace large volumes from Russia.  

A representative of the US National Security Council did not comment on negotiations with international energy companies, but confirmed that "contingency planning is currently underway," Reuters notes. And this leads to certain thoughts.

It seems that with the information planting about the mythical "Russian saboteurs" in eastern Ukraine, the Americans want to divert attention from the fact that there are currently several hundred US military personnel in this country, and some special forces also train and advise Ukrainian units. Moreover, clearly not only the armed forces, but also paramilitary groups of Ukrainian nationalists.

What prevents them from organising provocations themselves at the right time, up to the undermining of sections of Ukraine's gas transportation system, in order to put it on the brink of survival in the conditions of the severe energy crisis that has engulfed Europe, after which Washington could try to get the EU to introduce unprecedented harsh measures against Russia? In a situation where the United States lacks political and diplomatic arguments for a civilised discussion with Moscow, we can't put anything past them.