White House warns of possible Russian false flag against civilian ships in Black Sea
Mike Brest
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The Biden administration issued a new warning that Russia could begin targeting non-military vessels in the Black Sea in a false flag operation, accusing Ukraine of the attack.
Earlier this week, Russia pulled out of the grain deal that allowed Ukrainian exports to leave their ports. Russian leaders have said they will consider vessels in the area to be potential carriers of military equipment.
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“Information indicates that Russia has laid additional sea mines in the oceans to Ukrainian ports,” national security council coordinator John Kirby told reporters on Thursday, adding that they believe it’s a “coordinated effort to justify any attacks against civilian ships in the black Sean and then blame them on Ukraine.”
Kirby said the administration deliberately downgraded and then declassified information regarding Russia’s supposed plan for a false flag operation, which they have done multiple times at other stages of the war as well, in an attempt to publicly deter them from launching the attacks from the start.
Since withdrawing from the agreement on Monday, Russia has launched attacks against Ukrainian ports each night, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described as intentional. Russia has destroyed tens of thousands of tons of grain this week.
“Russian terrorists absolutely deliberately targeted the infrastructure of the grain deal,” he said on Telegram. “Every Russian missile – is a strike not only on Ukraine but on everyone in the world who wants a normal and safe life.”
The United Nations and Turkey first brokered the Black Sea agreement last July to curb a growing global food shortage that had been exacerbated by Russia’s refusal to let Ukrainian exports leave for months. Kremlin officials had threatened previously and ultimately withdrew from the deal under the belief they had not received adequate benefits in exchange for their participation.
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In the roughly one year since the agreement was first enacted, more than 32 metric tons of grain have left the port, while future exports now face a more daunting path to their destinations.
U.N. officials are exploring options for how to continue Ukraine’s exports despite Russia’s withdrawal from the agreement. One such proposal that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has received is to orchestrate a maritime military escort for cargo ships transporting grain from Ukrainian ports, according to Ukrainian and U.N. officials.