Ukrainian intelligence has information that the Russian aggressors are planning a terrorist attack on the "exclusion zone" in Chornobyl and plan to blame Ukraine for a 'man-made catastrophe.' It has also accused Russia of collecting bodies of Ukrainian soldiers in refrigerated lorries, so that they could be presented to the world as ‘terrorists.’
The purpose of the attack would be to 'blackmail the world' for supporting Ukraine, and justify further violence. The Ukrainian Intelligence tip-off came as White House and Downing Street warned that Russia also appears to be preparing for a chemical attack.
As the invasion entered its third week, Russian forces appeared to expand the offensive by striking new areas in the west of Ukraine, even as President Vladimir Putin approved the recruitment of “volunteer” fighters from Syria and elsewhere.
On Friday, Russia appeared to be pushing its offensive westward with authorities in Ukraine saying airstrikes hit two cities that had been far from Russia's main targets elsewhere.
Night-time temperatures in the besieged port city of Mariupol are below freezing, and the city of 430,000 has been without food supplies, running water and electricity for 10 days.
US President Joe Biden is expected to announce on Friday an agreement with other nations to revoke Russia's “most favoured nation” trade status, allowing for tariffs to be imposed on Russian imports.
Satellite images show a huge Russian convoy that had been mired outside the capital, Kyiv, has fanned out into towns and forests. The immediacy of the threat to Kyiv was unclear.
The UN Security Council will meet later on Friday to discuss Russia's baseless claims that the United States is conducting “military biological activities” in Ukraine.
The United Nations has said it has received no information that would back up the claim, but that hasn't stopped it from proliferating.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki has called the accusations “preposterous” and warned this week that Russia might use chemical or biological weapons against Ukraine.
China, meanwhile, is amplifying the unsubstantiated and inflammatory claims about Ukrainian bio-weapons.
