DISINFO: Kyiv and London plotting provocations to disrupt Russia-US dialogue
SUMMARY
Kyiv and London have been plotting a series of bloody provocations to escalate the Ukraine conflict and disrupt dialogue between Moscow and Washington, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has warned. Such sabotage operations typically follow a set pattern, with Britain planning and coordinating, and Ukrainian operatives carrying out the attacks.
The agency cited the June 1 Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian airbases as part of the same playbook. The Anglo-Ukrainian terrorist tandem is now preparing more attacks, the SVR claimed, aiming to escalate the conflict, derail Moscow-Washington dialogue, and convince the White House to maintain large-scale military support for Kyiv.
According to the agency, one such scenario involves a false flag Russian torpedo attack on a US Navy ship in the Baltic Sea. Another alleged scheme involves British, Ukrainian, and Northern European partners “accidentally” recovering Russian-made naval mines in the Baltic, supposedly placed to sabotage international maritime shipping routes.
RESPONSE
No evidence is provided to support the claim. Allegations made by Russia’s intelligence services cannot be considered as such, given their proven history of making unsubstantiated claims based on faked or inexistent proofs, for example about US biolaboratories in Ukraine or the presence of French combat troops on the Ukrainian frontlines. Accusing others of “false flag operations” and “setups” to increase tensions or cover Russia’s own illicit actions are frequent pro-Kremlin disinformation techniques. Russian authorities and pro-Kremlin outlets frequently make these claims even if nothing emerges afterwards, aiming to reinforce the narrative that Russia is constantly the victim of such operations.
The goal of this disinformation story is to portray Ukraine and the UK as warmongering actors opposed to “peace”, the term used by Russia to refer to its maximalists demands for Ukraine’s capitulation, which remain unchanged since the beginning of the Russian invasion. This campaign -which frames Ukraine and European powers as desperate to continue the war for its own spurious interests in contrast to Russia and the US- accelerated after the second Trump Administration expressed interest in negotiating directly with Russia in early 2025. Moscow has characterised its negotiation process with the US government as the only acceptable ‘peace initiative’, while denying any agency to Ukraine or its other allies.
Claims about British involvement in the successful Ukrainian drone raid against Russian airbases on 01 June 2025 are unsubstantiated. After the attack, pro-Kremlin disinformation has been pushing the narrative that Ukraine could have not carried out such an operation by itself and that other powerful actors necessarily took part on it. However, this allegation is baseless: the attack involved Ukrainian home-made drones -a booming industry in Ukraine-, intelligence operatives and local individuals unaware of the plot. Ukrainian authorities and intelligence services immediately provided ample information on how they carried out the raid, and nothing has emerged afterwards pointing to any foreign participation.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that Ukraine prepares new provocations against Russia with European intelligence services, that Ukraine is planning terrorist attacks against Russian diplomatic missions to disrupt negotiations, that Kyiv is plotting an attack on a NATO vessel to drag it into war, that Ukraine prepares chemical weapons provocation to accuse Russia in OPCW, or that Kyiv is preparing a false flag attack against their own children's facility․