Berlin, Feb 5: The German tabloid Bild on Saturday published a report it says shows Russia’s plan to take over Ukraine and make it part of Russia, with the Russian embassy to Germany describing these claims as speculation and hearsay.
The Russian embassy told Bild that the so-called plan published by the controversial tabloid is “a strange combination of speculation and rumors,” which the diplomats in principle do not reflect on.
Meanwhile, Russian officials have repeatedly dismissed the allegations of preparing an invasion of Ukraine, while criticizing the United States and NATO allies over their provocative military buildup in Eastern Europe.
According to Bild, Russia expects to launch an invasion of Ukraine in February or March. The report claims that Russia will seek to install a pro-Russian puppet government and parliament in Kiev and set up camps to detain opponents, a list of whom is being compiled. The Bild report claims that Russia’s ultimate goal is a formation of a Union State of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine.
This publication followed last night’s false report by Bloomberg claiming Russia has launched an invasion of Ukraine. Bloomberg promptly deleted this headline, admitting a mistake. Later in the day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Sputnik that Bloomberg’s misleading piece showcases the danger of the West’s aggressive stance on Russia and demonstrates how such provocative reports might lead to “irreparable consequences” amid extremely heightened tensions in the region.
The precarious situation around Ukraine has deteriorated in recent weeks with the US and European Union raising concerns over Russian military buildup at the Ukrainian border, and NATO urging allies to enhance their military support for Kiev. So far, the US, UK, Canada, Poland and Baltic states have supplied several batches of arms to Ukraine, mainly handguns, ammunition and anti-tank weapons, with Washington dispatching additional forces to neighboring Poland and Romania. Russia in turn has on many occasions denied the accusations of buildup and aggressive intentions towards Ukraine, pointing to NATO’s military activity near Russian borders, which it deems a threat to its national security.
