{"id":1306463,"date":"2022-02-17T13:07:56","date_gmt":"2022-02-17T18:07:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1306463"},"modified":"2022-02-17T13:08:16","modified_gmt":"2022-02-17T18:08:16","slug":"uk-labels-russias-retaliatory-shelling-of-kindergarten-false-flag-operation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/uk-labels-russias-retaliatory-shelling-of-kindergarten-false-flag-operation\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Labels Russia&#039;s &#039;Retaliatory&#039; Shelling of Kindergarten &#039;False Flag Operation&#039;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fuk-labels-russias-retaliatory-shelling-of-kindergarten-false-flag-operation%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1306463&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\">The Prime Minister and several government ministers have labelled Russia\u2019s claims surrounding shelling that struck, among other locations, a school in Ukraine a \u201cfalse flag operation\u201d intended to discredit Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>A \u201cKindergarten\u201d junior school in&nbsp;Stanytsia Luhanska, Ukraine, was struck by shellfire that impacted several villages and towns near the Donbas region in Eastern Ukraine on Thursday morning. According to the Ukranian government, as of Thursday afternoon, there had been \u201c42 cases of shelling\u201d recorded which had not caused any deaths, but had seen buildings damaged and seen several people injured, including at least four civilians and one soldier.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>In military parlance, \u201cshelling\u201d is understood to be a concentration of indirect artillery fire intended to impact a wide area, rather than directed fire attempting to destroy a particular target. Generally, it involves explosive ordinance, or shells fired in a barrage.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_19919450\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/AP22048611972963.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-19919450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/AP22048611972963.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Solderis survey a crater from an artillery shell that landed near a school in Vrubivka in the Luhansk region, eastern Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. (AP Photo\/Vadim Ghirda)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Russian government provided their own take on events, saying in a <a href=\"https:\/\/tass.com\/world\/1405043\">release<\/a> from state media service TASS that the shelling was not by Russian forces but from \u201cforces of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People\u2019s Republic\u201d \u2014 in other words forces loyal to and equipped by Moscow \u2014 and was initiated in response to Ukraine shelling them first.<\/p>\n<p>Ukraine denies having shelled at all and says the weapons used by Russia in the bombardment are from heavy guns and a tank banned by the Minsk accords signed in 2014.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>Responding to Russia\u2019s claims about the circumstances surrounding the barrage \u2014 that they shelled a school in self-defence \u2014 several senior figures from the United Kingdom have explicitly called the claims a \u201cfalse flag\u201d, a term with historical connotations relating to warships in the age of sail hoisting the colours of another nation to launch a surprise attack or escape detection.<\/p>\n<p>British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was among those, and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ITVNewsPolitics\/status\/1494321431970152449\">spoke to television crews<\/a> at a Royal Air Force base surrounded by military aircraft which, he said, were to shortly fly to Eastern Europe to surveil and gather intelligence over Belarus, Poland, and Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking in certain terms, Johnson said the government was absolutely certain Russia\u2019s activities are a \u201c\u2018false-flag\u2019 operation designed to discredit the Ukrainians, designed to create a pretext, spurious provocation for Russian action\u201d. Further, he said the UK expected more such events in the coming days.<\/p>\n<p>British Defence Minister&nbsp;Ben Wallace, who has become something of a minor celebrity in European foreign policy circles in recent weeks \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/news\/2022\/02\/16\/tory-faithful-have-new-darling-not-truss\/\">it is claimed<\/a> \u2014 over his handling of Britain\u2019s response to Russia, struck a similar tone to the Prime Minister on Thursday. In remarks <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetimes.co.uk\/article\/satellite-reveals-russians-arriving-near-ukraine-border-npmvnbs9q\">reported<\/a> by&nbsp;<em>The Times<\/em>, Wallace said the shelling was part of Russia\u2019s \u201cplaybook\u201d for invasion, and that if it were to continue, in coming days there would be \u201cfalse flags\u201d claims of genocide and breaches of ceasefire made by the Russian state made as a pretext for further action against Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>Wallace and Johnson were joined in those remarks by British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss during a joint press conference with her Ukranian counterpart,&nbsp;Dmytro Kuleba, in Kyiv on Thursday afternoon. Truss said: \u201c\u2026we have been warning about the likelihood of a false-flag operation and that is what we are seeing taking place. We are very clear, the aggressor in this situation is Russia. We will continue to call out false-flag operations, we will continue to call out cyber-attacks.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>Upon arrival in-country, Truss had <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/trussliz\/status\/1494284644384190465\">written that<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Reports of alleged abnormal military activity by Ukraine in Donbas are a blatant attempt by the Russian government to fabricate pretexts for invasion.<\/p>\n<p>This is straight out of the Kremlin playbook.<\/p>\n[The UK] will continue to call out Russia\u2019s disinformation campaign.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Ukranian foreign minister&nbsp;Kuleba made considerable remarks of his own during the joint address, where as well as announcing the formalisation of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2022\/02\/01\/fleeing-the-coup-boris-jets-to-ukraine-amid-partygate-scandal\/\">previously-revealed<\/a> Trilateral pact between his nation, the United Kingdom, and Poland, he outlined the extent of the morning\u2019s attacks.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_19919394\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/AP22048549815942.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-19919394\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/AP22048549815942.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba attend a joint news conference following their talks in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. (AP Photo\/Efrem Lukatsky, Pool)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>He told the assembled press that: \u201cas you know, the enemy shelled Ukrainian territory with heavy weaponry which is prohibited by the Minsk accords, civilian infrastructure was damaged in Stanytsia Luhanska with at least two people injured\u2026A number of other localities also came under enemy fire, as of 1500 today 42 cases of shelling have taken place.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Accusing the Russian \u201cpropaganda machine\u201d of distorting facts, Kuleba said the shelling took place \u201cfrom the occupied territories controlled by Russia\u201d. He thanked the United Kingdom for its assistance, saying \u201cUkraine and the United Kingdom have become closer than ever before\u2026 it is fair to say Ukraine has a reliable friend and ally, where actions speak louder than words\u201d, and saying he had \u201cfull confidence\u201d in Liz Truss.<\/p>\n<p>The comments may come as some comfort for Truss \u2014 she faced <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetimes.co.uk\/article\/boris-johnson-and-liz-truss-urge-russia-to-back-down-over-ukraine-d27ns5w8b\">negative headlines<\/a> last week after she met with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, who insulted her intelligence in remarks post-discussions with the press.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Prime Minister and several government ministers have labelled Russia\u2019s claims surrounding shelling that struck, among other locations, a school in Ukraine a \u201cfalse flag operation\u201d intended to discredit Ukraine. &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1306463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1306463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1306463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1306463\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1306463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1306463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1306463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}