NPR

As Russia threatens Ukraine, the U.S. 'pre-bunks' Russian propaganda

As Russian troops threaten to Ukraine, the U.S. is publicizing what it says are Russian attempts to sow disinformation. The goal is to undermine Russian claims that might be used to provoke a war.

The Biden administration says it doesn't know whether Russian leader Vladimir Putin will invade Ukraine with the more than 100,000 troops he's amassed near their shared border.

But Biden's national security team says a Russian disinformation campaign is already well underway. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby recently outlined what he described as a Russian plan to create a phony video that could be used as a pretext for a Russian invasion.

"As part of this fake attack, we believe that Russia would produce In a similar vein, Britain recently announced that Russia might try to stage a coup in Ukraine and install a leader friendly to the Kremlin — who could then "invite" Russian troops into the country.

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