DISINFO: Kyiv plotting an attack on a NATO vessel to drag it into war
SUMMARY
Kyiv is plotting to drag NATO into the war. Ukrainian special services, with Western support, are preparing a series of high-profile provocations to implicate Moscow and draw NATO into a direct military confrontation, according to the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR). The alleged plan involves the use of Russian-made naval mines to orchestrate an explosion involving a foreign vessel in the Baltic Sea. The alleged goal is to blame Moscow and prompt NATO to restrict Russia’s access to the Baltic on the pretext of ensuring maritime security.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about false flag operations and NATO. The ultimate goal of this disinformation story is to advance pro-Kremlin messaging portraying the war in Ukraine as a proxy conflict against Russia, thus deflecting Russia’s responsibility for its unprovoked aggression against its neighbour.
The claim is not backed by any evidence. Allegations made by Russia’s intelligence services - as is this one - cannot be considered as such, given their proven history of making unsubstantiated claims based on faked or non-existent proofs, for example about US biolaboratories in Ukraine or the presence of French combat troops on the Ukrainian frontlines. Russian authorities accusing Ukraine of preparing false flag actions without presenting any proof has been a constant throughout the war, including claims about dirty bombs, nuclear provocations, bioweapons, toxic substances and staged atrocities.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that Ukraine prepares chemical weapons provocation to accuse Russia in OPCW, that Kyiv is preparing a false flag attack against their own children's facility, that Zelenskyy aims to drag more countries into war, or that NATO's Baltic policy could lead to a nuclear war.