Ukraine crisis: reports in Russian state media of explosion in Donetsk amid fears of plan to trigger invasion – live

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Ukraine crisis: reports in Russian state media of explosion in Donetsk amid fears of plan to trigger invasion – live​

A view shows a wreckage of a car that according to the local authorities was blown up in Donetsk. Photograph: Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters


1m ago18:09
The West must gear up for years of heightened Russian pressure on Ukraine and on Europe as a whole, whether or not Moscow launches an attack on Ukraine in the coming days, Latvia’s prime minister Krišjānis Kariņš said.
In an interview with POLITICO, Kariņš said Vladimir Putin’s goal was to suppress Ukraine’s independence and bring it back into “the Russian fold.”
The Russian president could pursue his strategy of “neo-imperialism” not just through a direct military attack but also by ramping up efforts to destabilise the Ukrainian economy and society, Kariņš warned.
Kariņš said:

In the best-case scenario — best-case meaning no war — we will be facing long-term pressure from Putin on Ukraine and on Europe as a whole.

Latvia borders Russia and Belarus, where Moscow has massed tens of thousands of troops as part of a huge buildup of forces around Ukraine.
Kariņš said he had told his European Council counterparts to prepare themselves for the long term, whatever the coming days may bring.

What I argue with my colleagues in the Council is that we have to be prepared for probably a long haul — not two weeks or two months or even two years … probably it will be much longer. And we have to start thinking in terms of the long game.
In this long game, we are interested in supporting the Ukrainian state, supporting its independence, its democracy, helping it with reforms, helping it financially, helping it withstand the outward pressures of Moscow.

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10m ago18:00
Our correspondents, Shaun Walker in Vrubivka, and Andrew Roth in Moscow, report on how warnings by leaders of pro-Russian proxy states of an imminent assault by Ukrainian forces are fueling fears that Moscow is seeking to create a pretext for invasion.
The leaders of pro-Russian proxy states in eastern Ukraine announced a mass evacuation of citizens to Russia on Friday evening, amid fears Moscow is manufacturing tension in the region to provide a pretext for renewed military intervention in Ukraine.
After the evacuation announcement, warning sirens sounded in Donetsk and other cities in the two Moscow-backed statelets, supposedly due to an upcoming Ukrainian military assault on the region.
On Friday evening the Russian-separatist authorities said that a car had been blown up near their government building in the centre of Donetsk. There were no reports of casualties and a video seemed to show it was in an empty car park.
Vladimir Putin swiftly dispatched a top official to the border region and announced those arriving would be given a payment of 10,000 roubles (£95).
However, Ukrainian officials insisted they had no plans to launch any assault, and said that, in fact, recent days have seen a dramatic upsurge in fire by Russia-backed forces across the frontlines.
In Vrubivka, one of many towns on the Ukrainian side of the frontline that has seen an uptick in violence in the past two days, humanitarian monitors were analysing the damage on Friday afternoon and helping residents with repairs. Twelve buildings in the town were damaged by incoming artillery fire on Thursday, the first time the town has been hit since August 2018.
“I just hope there isn’t going to be any more of this. I can’t sleep at night. My arms and legs are shaking, and it’s scary,” said Anatoly Romanenko, 77, whose roof was damaged in the attacks.

Pro-Russian separatists order mass evacuation of eastern Ukraine​

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17m ago17:52
More on the statement released this afternoon by Ukraine’s foreign ministry, who said claims that the Ukrainian government plans to launch an offensive operation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions are “divorced from reality”.
The statement reads:

Ukraine is also not conducting or planning any sabotage acts in Donbas.
We categorically reject the attempts of Russia to aggravate the already tense security situation.
We remain firmly committed to politico-diplomatic settlement and, together with our partners, maximise efforts to reduce the tension and keep the situation in line with diplomatic dialogue.

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26m ago17:44
A Russian attack on Ukraine would mean the end of the post-cold war and “the end of our hopes and illusions”, Gérard Araud, a former French ambassador to the United States, United Nations and Israel said.
Araud tweeted:

Gérard Araud (@GerardAraud)
If Russia attacks Ukraine, whatever the pretext, it will be a defining moment of European history at least for the decade to come. The end of the post-cold war and the beginning of something dramatically and tragically different, the end of our hopes and illusions.
February 18, 2022

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35m ago17:34
The most likely scenario for a Russian attack on Ukraine is not a fully-fledged invasion but rather a false flag operation or a coup, German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said.
Speaking at the annual Munich Security Conference, Baerbock said:

The scenario of a full invasion might be possible but I am not sure this is really the most likely scenario.

She added, apparently alluding to a cyber attack or an attack on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure:

I would be more afraid that the most likely scenario is a false flag (operation) or a coup or also other things like...if all the electricity will fall down here at this hotel, we would all go nuts and totally crazy.

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50m ago17:20
The US has obtained intelligence that Russia is building lists of Ukrainian political figures and other high-profile political opponents to be targeted for either arrest or assassination in the event of a Russian assault on Ukraine, Foreign Policy reports.
Four people familiar with US intelligence told the website that if Russia moves forward with plans to invade Ukraine, it may target prominent political opponents, anti-corruption activists, and Belarusian and Russian dissidents living in exile.
A fifth person, a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the US has been downgrading its intelligence classification in order to share threats to specific groups within Ukraine with Ukrainian government officials and other partners in the region.
The US official said:

As we’ve seen in the past, we expect Russia will try to force cooperation through intimidation and repression.

These acts, which in past Russian operations have included targeted killings, kidnappings/forced disappearances, detentions, and the use of torture, would likely target those who oppose Russian actions, including Russian and Belarusian dissidents in exile in Ukraine, journalists and anti-corruption activists, and vulnerable populations such as religious and ethnic minorities and LGBTQI+ persons.

The report comes after US secretary of state Antony Blinken hinted that Russia would target political opponents with arrest or assassination in a speech at the United Nations yesterday. “We have information that indicates Russia will target specific groups of Ukrainians,” Blinken said, without providing details.
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1h ago17:04
The UK is advising against all but essential travel to Belarus, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office said.
In an update on its website, the FCDO says it is advising “against all travel to Yelsk, Mazyr, Rechitsa, Luninets, Gomel, Asipovichy, Baranovichi and Brest”.
“The FCDO advise against all but essential travel to the remainder of Belarus,” it continues.

Biden says diplomacy still possible; OSCE reports more attacks in east – as it happened

Russian state media say a blast has occurred in Donetsk amid multiple US warnings of false flag incidents

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