Russia-Ukraine: State Department reacts to reported explosion, evacuations: LIVE UPDATES

[mystery-ak]

1 hour(s) ago
State Department reacts to Donbass evacuations, reported explosion in Donetsk

A U.S. State Department spokesperson said Friday that reported evacuations in eastern Ukraine and a car bombing in the city of Donetsk "are further attempts to obscure through lies and disinformation that Russia is the aggressor in this conflict."

"This type of false flag operation is exactly what Secretary [of State] Blinken highlighted in his remarks to the U.N. Security Council," the spokesperson continued. "It is also cynical and cruel to use human beings as pawns to distract the world from the fact that Russia is building up its forces in preparation for an attack.  Russia is the sole instigator of these tensions and is threatening the people of Ukraine. It has put its troops on Ukraine's borders and routinely abuses and violates the rights of the people of Donbass and Crimea.”

A bombing struck a car Friday outside the main government building in the major eastern city of Donetsk, according to an Associated Press journalist there. The head of the separatists' forces, Denis Sinenkov, said the car was his, the Interfax news agency reported.

There were no reports of casualties and no independent confirmation of the circumstances of the blast. Uniformed men inspected the burned-out car. Broken glass littered the area.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

https://www.foxnews.com/live-news/russia-ukraine-troops
Posted by Greg Norman

[Kamaji]

Russia will, covertly, and through operatives, ramp up the civil strife until it becomes "clear to all" that (a) the Ukrainian government cannot keep it under control, and (b) the people in that region are suffering, and after a failed attempt to get the UN to step in, Russia will be "invited" in by the local and regional governments, and that will be all she wrote.

It won't be under the guise of an actual invasion, there won't be lots of tanks rolling in mass formations, and the Ukraine government won't be able to oppose it.

And so Russia will get a permanent "peacekeeping" presence in Ukraine, and there won't be a damned thing Bidet can do about it.

[Elderberry]

Massive explosions rip through Russian separatist city of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine hours after car bomb and mass evacuation of 700,000 civilians - as Biden says Putin 'WILL invade in days'

Daily Mail By Chris Pleasance and Nick Craven In Kiev and Will Stewart for MailOnline 2/18/2022

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10527897/Ukraine-crisis-Pro-Moscow-rebels-start-evacuating-civilians.html

•   Two new blasts have been heard in eastern Ukraine just hours after a car bomb saw mass evacuation

•   The latest explosions were heard in the Russian separatist city of Luhansk which is in eastern Ukraine

•   Comes after explosion rocked city of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, in what was feared to be Russian 'false flag'

•   Jeep belonging to head of Donbass security blew up close to headquarters of Donetsk separatist government

•   It came just an hour after separatist leaders ordered civilian evacuation due to threat of 'Ukrainian invasion'

•   Kiev 'categorically' denied such plans, raising fears it is a Russian disinformation plot to justify an invasion

•   Ukraine called on world leaders to condemn the 'provocation', warning of further escalation if it did not

Two new blasts have been heard in eastern Ukraine just hours after a car bomb saw the mass evacuation of 700,000 civilians from the region amid fears of a looming Russian attack in the country.

The explosions, which have been 'linked to a gas pipeline', were heard in the Russian separatist city of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, one of the main cities in Ukraine's breakaway region of People's Republic of Luhansk, according to reports.

The latest blasts comes just hours after an explosion, which was claimed to be a car bomb, rocked Donetsk in what appeared to be the start of Putin's long-awaited false flag operation.   

Tonight President Joe Biden said he was 'convinced' that Russian President Vladimir Putin had decided to launch a further invasion of Ukraine, saying he had 'reason to believe' it will occur in the 'coming days' and will include an assault on its capital Kiev.   

The American leader said: 'As of this moment I'm convinced he's made the decision. We have reason to believe that.'

The US President cited the United States' 'significant intelligence capability' for the assessment.

He also reiterated his threat of massive economic and diplomatic sanctions against Russia if it does invade, and pressed Putin to rethink his course of action. He said the US and its Western allies were more united than ever to ensure Russia pays a price for the invasion.