Truss heads for Kiev voicing scepticism on Russian troop withdrawal claims

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Liz Truss accused Russia of ‘blatant’ efforts to ‘fabricate pretexts for invasion’ today as she arrived in Ukraine to show solidarity – with Boris Johnson warning of ‘false flag operations’.

Amid rising fears that Vladimir Putin is preparing to send in forces, the Foreign Secretary said claims of ‘abnormal’ activity by Ukranian forces were ‘straight out of the Kremlin playbook’.

And she condemned the shelling of a kindergarten by pro-Russian forces, urging Moscow to pursue diplomatic channels. 

Meanwhile, on a visit to an RAF base in Lincolnshire Mr Johnson has said the kindergarten attack was a ‘false flag operation designed to discredit the Ukrainians’, adding: ‘We fear very much that that is a thing we will see more of over the next few days.’ 

The US has accused Russia of adding up to 7,000 troops near the Ukraine border despite Moscow insisting some units are returning to base after ‘exercises’. 

At a press conference alongside her Ukranian counterpart this afternoon, Ms Truss said she wanted to show the UK’s ‘steadfast support’.

‘I’m very impressed that, despite the Russian aggression towards Ukraine, that life here in Kyiv goes on and I am impressed by the level of stoicism, both from the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian government,’ she said.

‘We admire your fortitude in the face of Russian aggression and we stand with you in defence of your right to determine your own future.’

Despite it being a relatively mild 7 degrees C in Kiev, Ms Truss was again wearing the fur hat that was mocked by Russian propagandists on her trip to Moscow last week.

As she landed she tweeted: ‘Very concerned about reports today of increased Russian aggression: over 7,000 extra troops near the Ukraine border and an attack by pro-Russian troops on a kindergarten in Ukraine. 

‘(The UK) calls on Russia to withdraw its troops – there is still time for diplomacy and de-escalation.’

She vowed to keep calling out ‘disinformation’ from Moscow. 

‘Reports of alleged abnormal military activity by Ukraine in Donbas are a blatant attempt by the Russian government to fabricate pretexts for invasion,’ Ms Truss added.

‘This is straight out of the Kremlin playbook.’  

The kindergarten was struck during clashes between Russian-backed separatists and state forces in east Ukraine.

Separatist authorities in the Luhansk region claimed there had been an increase in Ukrainian shelling along the tense line of contact, describing it as a ‘large-scale provocation’ and they then returned fire.

The Kyiv government disputed the claim, saying that separatists had shelled its forces but they did not fire back

A nursery building in Stanytsia Luhanska was hit, wounding two civilians, according to the Ukrainian military.

In other developments in the standoff today: 

Mr Johnson – who is due to attend a security conference in Munich over the weekend – said the UK was working to strengthen the package of sanctions being readied in case Russia does go ahead with an invasion;The premier said Russia would be ‘mad’ to invade and urged countries such as Germany to change gas supplies so it cannot be ‘blackmailed’ by Moscow any more; US defence secretary Lloyd Austin has said Russia is continuing to send troops to the border zone with Ukraine, and warned that they would not be taking measures such as stocking up on blood supplies for ‘no reason; Defence minister James Heappey warned ahead of the shelling attack that a Russian invasion is now ‘very, very imminent – if not inevitable’ based on satellite images showing that forces continue to build at the border.Images show a new pontoon bridge has been built hundreds of miles away across the Pripyat River in Belarus, close to Chernobyl and around 80 miles north of Kiev amid fears it could be used as an invasion route; Video emerged purporting to show a thick column of smoke rising from the Russian embassy in Kiev, raising fears that sensitive documents are being burned before diplomats evacuate.

The Kremlin denies it has any plans to invade Ukraine and has released footage which it claimed showed troops and equipment pulling back from locations near Ukraine following the completion of military exercises. 

But a senior White House official said 7,000 extra troops had been deployed and there had been a marked increase in false claims by Russians, including reports of unmarked graves of civilians allegedly killed by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. 

Speaking about the latest developments from Ukraine on a visit to RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, Mr Johnson said: ‘I wish I could give everybody better news about this, but I have to tell you that the picture is continuing to be very grim.

‘Today, as I’m sure you’ve already picked up, a kindergarten was shelled in what we are taking to be – well, we know – was a false flag operation designed to discredit the Ukrainians, designed to create a pretext, a spurious provocation for Russian action.

‘We fear very much that that is the kind of thing we will see more of over the next few days.

‘What we are doing is making that we do everything to strengthen the package of sanctions that will follow immediately should there be a Russian invasion.’

Mr Johnson said that Mr Putin would be ‘mad’ to invade, and underlined the need for countries such as Germany to reduce reliance on Russian gas so they were not open to ‘blackmail’.  

‘What we’ve got to do, and I’ve said this before, is we’ve got to end the dependence of the West, and Europeans in particular, on Russian hyrdocarbons,’ he said.

‘We can’t be blackmailed this way by Vladimir Putin – we’ve got to end that.

‘I just want to say one thing finally about what’s happening in Ukraine – there is still time for the Putin regime to step back.

‘There is still time to avoid a catastrophe, a catastrophe for Russia, a catastrophe for Ukraine and for the world.

‘If Russia were so mad as to invade, I don’t think people should imagine that this would be a brief business.

‘This would be a bloody and protracted conflict in which, I’m afraid, there will be many casualties and including many Russian casualties. I just hope that people in Russia can see that.’

Mr Austin said Russia is continuing to send troops to the border zone with Ukraine.

Speaking at Nato headquarters in Brussels, Mr Austin said: ‘We see them add to the more than 150,000 troops that they already have arrayed on that border even in the last couple of days.

‘We have seen those troops inch closer, we see them fly in more combat and support aircraft, we see them sharpen their readiness in the Black Sea. We even see them stocking up their blood supplies. You don’t do these sort of things for no reason.’

Mr Austin said claims by Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine that they had come under shelling from Ukrainian forces were ‘troubling’. The Ukrainians have denied the claims.

‘We have seen the reports of the shelling. They are certainly troubling. We are still gathering the details. We have said for some time the Russians might do something like this in order to justify a military conflict, so we will be watching this very closely,’ Mr Austin said.

In an article for the Telegraph before her departure, Ms Truss cautioned that Mr Putin is ‘testing our mettle’.

‘We must not be lulled into a false sense of security by Russia claiming that some troops are returning to their barracks, while in fact the Russian military build-up shows no signs of slowing,’ she wrote.

‘We must have no illusions that Russia could drag this out much longer in a brazen ploy to spend weeks more – if not months – subverting Ukraine and challenging Western unity. This is a test of our mettle.’

Ms Truss will use a speech in Kyiv to say the ‘path of diplomacy’ remains open if Moscow really does want a peaceful resolution to the crisis.

‘But we are very clear – if they decide to continue down the path of aggression, there will be massive consequences, bringing Russia severe economic costs and pariah status,’ she will say. 

Mr Heappey told LBC that whether or not Mr Putin decides to launch an invasion: ‘I think we have to be clear that we are entering a new period of acute competition with Russia that could last a generation or more.’

Nato’s defence ministers, meeting in Brussels, were joined by counterparts from Ukraine and Georgia to show support for the two states.

Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said: ‘There are signs from Moscow that diplomacy could continue but so far we have not seen any sign of withdrawal or de-escalation.

‘Russia has yet again demonstrated a disregard for the principles underpinning European security and its ability and willingness to threaten the use of force in pursuit of its objectives.’

Moscow has repeatedly denied that it has any intention of attacking Ukraine, despite massing an estimated 130,000 troops along the border, and it has mocked reports in the West which had suggested an invasion could have been launched on Wednesday.

Russia’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyanskiy, dismissed the claims as ‘fantasies’ by Western politicians.

‘This is a very ridiculous situation, there has been hysteria, even hype, fanned for several weeks by our Western colleagues,’ he told ITV’s Peston programme.

‘They convinced each other and the whole world that Russia was about to invade, they were even naming concrete dates. So it happened in their minds, in their heads.’

Although an invasion of Ukraine is unlikely to result in British troops fighting, as the country is not a Nato member, Russia’s military build-up has caused anxiety among eastern members of the alliance.

UK forces have been committed to efforts to bolster defences in Nato’s eastern flank.

Britain has already said it is doubling the number of troops in Estonia, with around 850 members of The Royal Welsh battlegroup heading from Sennelager in Germany and bases in Europe for the Baltic state, while 350 Royal Marine commandos are being despatched to Poland.

Four additional RAF Typhoon jets are heading to Cyprus to join Nato patrols over eastern Europe while offshore patrol vessel HMS Trent will shortly be joined in the eastern Mediterranean by HMS Diamond, a Type 45 destroyer.