US official accused Russia of being behind a car bombing in rebel-held Ukraine that Russian media is using to fan war flames

R&I – FS

• A US official accused Russia of being behind a car bombing in rebel-held eastern Ukraine.
• Russian media has been using the incident in Donetsk to fan the flames of war.
• The US and NATO have warned that Russia may try to create a pretext for an armed attack against Ukraine.

A US official accused Russia of being behind a car bombing in rebel-held eastern Ukraine that Russian media has been using to stoke concern that Ukrainian forces are targeting separatist leaders.

“Announcements like these are further attempts to obscure through lies and disinformation that Russia is the aggressor in this conflict,” a US State Department spokesperson told reporters, according to ABC News reporter Conor Finnegan.

The spokesperson added: “This type of false flag operation is exactly what Secretary Blinken highlighted in his remarks to the UN Security Council.”

A false flag is a secretive military operation that seeks to get an adversary, such as Ukraine, blamed for the actions by one’s own operatives, a type of misdirection that Russia frequently employs in conflicts.

One Russian state-owned news service claimed the car blew up in a parking lot of a government building in Donetsk. The car belonged to the head of the Donetsk separatist police, Financial Times journalist Max Seddon reported.