President Joe Biden said on Friday that the U.S. believes Russia will attack the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv, in the coming days, citing their own intelligence gathering.
“We have reason to believe the Russian forces are planning to and intend to attack Ukraine in the coming week, in the coming days,” said Biden.
Biden’s remarks came after the military intelligence of Ukraine announced hours earlier that it has information that Russian special forces have planted explosives at a number of social infrastructure facilities in separatist-controlled Donetsk.
Donetsk is located in eastern Ukraine, where Ukrainian forces have been fighting pro-Russia rebels since 2014 in a conflict that has killed some 14,000 people.
“These measures are aimed at destabilizing the situation in the temporarily occupied territories of our state and creating grounds for accusing Ukraine of terrorist acts,” the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine said in a tweet.
The service urged Donetsk residents not to leave their homes and not to use public transport.
Biden praised Ukrainian forces for not allowing Russian troops to bait them into war.
He said that disinformation includes “Russian-backed separatists claiming that Ukraine is planning to launch a major offensive attack in the Donbass.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday that he “condemns Russia’s aggressive actions” and stressed the importance of a diplomatic solution. He said he spoke to Biden and other European leaders about the Russian military buildup of up to 150,000 troops on Ukraine’s borders.
— with files from the Associated Press and Eric Stober