Political | Process

“We have information that indicates Russia has already prepositioned a group of operatives to conduct a false flag operation in eastern Ukraine,”

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• She further warned of an accompanying social media misinformation campaign that now averages 3,500 social media posts a day, up 200% from the rate in November. The effort is similar to what Russian President Vladimir Putin directed ahead of the 2014 invasion of Ukraine’s Crimea region, Psaki added.

• The United States met Russia in three different venues this week in Geneva, Brussels, and Vienna to try to de-escalate the crisis caused by Russia’s massive military deployment on Ukraine’s border.

• The U.S. offered to discuss reciprocal measures limiting missile deployments and military exercises in Eastern Europe but didn’t budge on any of Moscow’s major demands to end NATO expansion.

• And by week’s end, the result was a “dead end,” according to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who said in a Russian TV interview there are “no grounds” for any more talks.

• Separately, multiple websites associated with the Ukrainian government were hit with a cyberattack on Friday, leaving them temporarily unavailable.

• The cyberattack included a warning on the affected websites belonging to government agencies such as the seven ministries, the Treasury, the National Emergency Service, and others that read, in part: “Be afraid and expect the worst. This is for your past, present and future.”

SOURCE: WASHINGTONEXAMINER