NATO weighs in after Ukrainian kindergarten bombing declared a ‘false flag’ attack

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has claimed a bombing attack on a Ukrainian kindergarten was a “false flag operation” by pro-Russian forces.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has labelled an attack on Ukrainian kindergarten a ‘false flag’. Picture: Ukrainian Joint Forces Operation press-service/AFP

NATO’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has warned the Western alliance has “seen attempts” of Russian false flags, following the bombing of a Ukrainian nursery on Thursday.

“We are concerned that Russia is trying to stage a pretext for an armed attack against Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said at a press conference. However, he conceded there is “still no clarity, no certainty about Russia’s intentions”.

Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell said NATO allies are “very concerned” after noticing the hostile activity sprouting along the border.

“We’ve noticed a lot of disinformation from Russia’s side in order to create an atmosphere of alleged attacks against Russian people in this part of Ukraine,” he said, via Politico.

The attack by pro-Russian forces was a bid to trigger an invasion, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday (AEDT).

The PM said the kindergarten attack was a “false flag operation designed to discredit the Ukrainians” – and feared these types of strikes would escalate over the next few days, The Sun reports.

Speaking about the latest developments during a visit to an RAF base in Lincolnshire, the Prime Minister said the situation in Ukraine was continuing to look “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,” he said.

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

Ukrainian officials claim pro-Russian forces bombed a nursery in Luhansk. Picture: Ukrainian Joint Forces Operation press-service/AFP

A woman stands inside among debris after the reported shelling of a kindergarten in the settlement of Stanytsia Luhanska, Ukraine. Picture: Aris Messinis/AFP

The Prime Minister said he was working to “do everything to strengthen the package of sanctions” against Russia should it invade Ukraine and promised “tough” penalties for Russian companies raising money in the UK.

Mr Johnson also made a personal plea to the warmongering Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“There is still time to avoid a catastrophe, a catastrophe for Russia, a catastrophe for Ukraine and for the world,” he said, warning of a “bloody and protracted” conflict for both sides if Russia invaded.

Russian troops are now as close as five miles from the Ukraine border in some areas – and half of all battalions are 30 miles or less from the frontier.

UK officials are now more worried now than before – with the latest false flags potentially being the pretext to an invasion and the standoff now entering a dangerous phase, sources said.

It comes as Ukrainian military sources said that Russian separatists fired at least 32 122mm mortars into their territory, including the ones which hit the kindergarten and school.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the attack was a ‘false flag’ operation. Picture: Carl Recine – WPA Pool/Getty Images

The barrage was at its most intense between 8am and 9am but was continuing sporadically.

Ukraine said it had received incoming fire but had not fired back – but the separatists claimed Ukrainian fire had hit eight houses inside their area.

Alexander, a 35-year-old surgeon in Ukraine’s Marine Corps spoke to The Sun from a trench in Verkhnotoretske on The Donbas frontline.

He said: “We have been under heavy shelling all morning from the pro-Russian forces in the east.

“We are not fighting back – all of our forces have been ordered not to return fire.

“All we can do is take cover. This is the most intense fire we have seen for months.”

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said later that Stanytsia Luhanska – where the nursery was hit – had been shelled with “heavy weapons” from the eastern conflict zone.

Red flag attack

Pictures circulated on social media showed what appeared to be a shell hole through the wall of a yellow-painted nursery classroom in strife-torn Luhansk, eastern Ukraine.

The blast appeared to have scattered masonry around children’s toys and footballs in the room close to a cot and a kiddie’s climbing ladder.

Tots escaped injury but two teachers were reported to have suffered cuts and bruises in the blast.

A Ukrainian soldier looks at debris after the reported shelling of a kindergarten. Picture: Aleksey Filippov/AFP

Reports of shelling flooded in during the course of the morning across Luhansk.

Unverified pictures showed a secondary school apparently hit in Vrubivka on the Ukrainian side of the frontline.

A shell-hole was seen in the playground after a blast was said to have erupted as 30 students and 14 staff members were in the school.

Pro-Russian forces quickly hit back with a counterclaim that the Ukrainians stage-managed the incident – which was denied by military chiefs in Kyiv.

Emotive imagery from the incident fired up fury on both sides – playing into Putin’s hands who is feared to be seeking an excuse to send in his 150,000-strong invasion force.

A train station in Stanytsia was also reported to have been hit.

Preparing to leave

Meanwhile, smoke was seen billowing from the Russian Embassy in Kyiv.

The building was not under attack – but the scene fired speculation that staff inside were burning sensitive documents.

Russia said earlier this week that its embassy was staying put in Kyiv while several western consulates moved west to Lviv as war fears rose.

Putin’s staff in Kyiv were believed to be destroying papers to avoid them falling into Ukrainian hands if Russia invades.

Monitors from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe later confirmed military activity in pro-Russian Luhansk suddenly spiked on Thursday.

A shelling duel was underway as the shaky ceasefire along an entrenched 250-mile frontline in seized Donbas began falling apart.

The village of Stanytsia Luhanska is on the contact line between Ukrainian government and pro-Russian rebel forces, a settlement also known as Novaya Kondrashovka.

Russia was also building a claim that it has a “responsibility to protect” Donbas by military intervention claiming it had unearthed mass graves of “hundreds of civilians”.

Moscow is preparing to release gruesome new material on five reported burial sites of victims killed in “indiscriminate shelling by the Ukrainian armed forces” in 2014.

Tension leapt again on Thursday as thousands more Russian troops surged towards Ukraine – despite Kremlin claims they are withdrawing.

‘Russia continues to build’

Up to 7000 soldiers arrived in 48 hours, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said.

Troops on drills in Belarus have built a new assault bridge close to Ukraine’s border.

Junior defence minister James Heappey said: “For all the talk of de-escalation what we are seeing is the opposite.”

Earlier Britain’s military spy chief stepped out of the shadows to call out Russia’s false claims.

General Sir Jim Hockenhull, the head of defence intelligence, said Russian troops were still advancing despite repeated claims that tank units were returning to their barracks.

His rare public comments are part of a trans-Atlantic media blitz to counter Moscow’s propaganda lies.

Servicemen of Ukrainian Military Forces walk as they keep position on the front line with Russia backed separatists, near Novolugansk. Picture: Anatolii Stepanov/AFP

The Army spy chief who has access to the latest signals, satellite and human intelligence, said: “Contrary to their claims, Russia continues to build.

“This includes sightings of additional armoured vehicles, helicopters and a field hospital moving towards Ukraine’s borders.”

Gen Hockenhull’s staff get secret intelligence from MI6, the CIA, spy-planes, satellites and secret agents.

“We have not seen evidence that Russia has withdrawn forces from Ukraine’s borders,” he added.

A fleet of 60 choppers swooped into Crimea this week where 40,000 Russian troops are based.

Another 30,000 Russian troops on exercise in Belarus are at “peak readiness” to invade, according to UK defence sources.

An MoD intelligence report warned ruthless Putin is ready “to sustain thousands of casualties to get what he wants.”

Spooks fear Putin is plotting an atrocity as an excuse for his troops to invade.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and has been republished with permission.