The press bureau of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has once again laid out in detail the agency’s plans for the near future. As usual, this came in the form of a statement about alleged operations supposedly being prepared by Ukrainian special services. This time, propagandists claim that “the Kyiv regime, after organizing drone provocations in Polish and Romanian airspace, continues its attempts to drag NATO’s European countries into an armed confrontation with Moscow”.
The first thing to note is the accusation against Ukraine regarding Russian drone attacks on NATO states. If earlier Moscow’s official sources preferred to remain silent about these incidents, now they simply echo the rhetoric of their own mass propaganda, which pins everything on the Ukrainians. This was especially visible in Poland, where Russian agents of influence flooded the information space with anti-Ukrainian narratives, blaming anyone but the Kremlin for the drone strikes. We covered this situation in more detail in a recent episode of the program Dead Air.
The statement then reveals the details of the planned operation by Russian special services: “This time the intrigue is supposed to revolve around a sabotage and reconnaissance group (SRG) allegedly infiltrated into Polish territory, consisting of Russian and Belarusian special forces. The candidates for the staged scenario have already been selected. They are fighters from the ‘Freedom of Russia Legion’ and Belarus’s “Kastus Kalinouski Regiment”, who are currently fighting on the side of Ukraine’s Armed Forces. It is planned that after the SRG is “discovered and neutralized” by Polish security services, members of the group will appear before the media and give confessions, exposing Russia and Belarus in an attempt to destabilize the situation in Poland”.
It is worth noting that the SVR’s press bureau specifically mentions Belarusians and Russians who are fighting against the Russian invaders on Ukraine’s side. Clearly, these formations greatly trouble Kremlin propaganda. Considering that Belarusian and Russian citizens are often used by Moscow to carry out destabilization operations in Western states, it is no surprise that they are seeking suitable candidates to divert attention away from their own actions.
Judging by the logic of the Kremlin’s previous moves, they are either preparing another large-scale provocation in NATO countries or anticipating the exposure of yet another spy network in the West, followed by the arrest of its members. In either case, Kyiv will once again be blamed for everything. Meanwhile, in the Western information space, a disinformation campaign will be launched to shift all responsibility for the Kremlin’s actions onto Ukraine. The argument will be quite simple: look, Russian intelligence warned you—it was all Ukrainian saboteurs!
