Just whom would a Russian “false flag” operation seek to convince? Western audiences have been warned for weeks that Moscow may try to stage a purported provocation for invading Ukraine—but foreigners may not be Vladimir Putin’s target.
Russians are living in a completely different information environment than their Western counterparts, especially when it comes to Ukraine. Over the last several months, the country’s largely state-controlled media has been rife with statements from Russian proxy forces.
Denis Pushilin, who heads the Donetsk People’s Republic, or DNR; Leonid Pasechnik, leader of the Russia-backed Luhansk People's Republic, or LPR, and their subordinates like LPR official Ivan Filiponenko, have been laying the groundwork for false claims that Ukrainians have attacked Russian forces.
Russian separatists’ claims about Ukrainian government activity are a regular feature of the eight-year conflict. They frequently proffer accusations about violations of the Minsk II ceasefire agreement. But as Russian military forces have been building up on the Ukrainian border, these public comments have become more and more extreme.
In November, Russian separatist forces claimed that the United States had shipped botulism toxins to the government in Kiev. In December, they claimed that Ukraine was pushing heavy military equipment and Ukrainian forces into the region at a rate not seen since 2014.
In January, they claimed that Ukrainian forces had set up headquarters in...
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