The United States claims that it has ‘credible information’ that Russian forces are creating lists of Ukrainians to be killed or sent to camps in the event of a military occupation.
According to the BBC’s security correspondent Gordon Corera, the US says it also has information that Russia plans to use lethal measures to disperse protests or peaceful acts of resistance if there is an occupation.
The US did not provide further detail on the source of its information, and the Kremlin has denied the claims as ‘fiction’ and ‘fake’.
The warning is the latest salvo in Washington’s attempts to expose what it says are Moscow’s intentions for Ukraine and comes in a letter from Bathsheba Crocker, the US Ambassador to UN organisations in Geneva, to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
According to the information,Russia’s domestic security service, the FSB, is understood to be in charge of work by Moscow’s spy agencies to prepare the ground for an invasion and occupation.
The ‘5thService’ of the FSB has the lead on intelligence and influence operations within Ukraine including identifying people opposed to Moscow’s plans.
On Monday Russia recognised two breakaway republics in eastern Ukraine, Donetsk and Luhansk, which some believe could be a prelude to a full invasion of the former Soviet republic.