Ukraine plotting to stage ‘sabotage acts’ to drag NATO into war: Russia

Backed by Western support, Ukraine has been preparing to stage a foreign vessel explosion in the Baltic Sea, aimed at implicating Moscow and drawing US-led NATO into a direct military confrontation with Moscow.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) said that Kiev plans to use Russian-made naval mines to orchestrate an explosion involving a foreign vessel in the Baltic Sea.

NATO has been increasing its military activities along Eastern Europe's borders in recent years by trying to restrict Russia's access to the Baltic Sea, on the pretext of ensuring maritime security.

The Baltic Sea is considered to be a strategic area for Russia's naval operations and energy exports. Moscow has vowed to do everything necessary to protect its interests, stressing that it has no intentions of attacking any NATO member states.

The SVR also said that Ukraine's main Intelligence Directorate (GUR), in collaboration with intelligence agencies from several European countries, is planning attacks on Russian "non-systematic opposition" figures and businessmen residing abroad.

The plan reportedly involves recruiting perpetrators from Asian and West Asian countries, offering up to $20,000 for participation, with instructions to blame the Russian intelligence services if apprehended.

Last year, Nikolay Patrushev, the former head of the Russian Security Council who currently serves as an aide to President Vladimir Putin, warned that NATO is using its newest members, Sweden and Finland, to turn the Baltic into an “internal sea” under Western control.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky remains in office despite his term expiring last May. He has refused to step down and postponed elections, citing martial law, which was imposed in 2022 following the escalation of the conflict with Russia.

In a separate report this month, the SVR said that NATO is exploring ways to remove Zelensky from power by undermining his credibility before potential elections by the end of the year. It added that some Western officials see him as a roadblock to peace talks with Moscow.

Meanwhile, the United States wants Ukraine to hold elections, potentially by the end of the year, especially if Kiev can agree a truce with Russia in the coming months, President Donald Trump's top Ukraine official has told Reuters.

Keith Kellogg, Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, said in an interview that Ukrainian presidential and parliamentary elections, suspended during the war with Russia, "need to be done."

Elections are banned from being held in Ukraine during martial law, which has been in effect since February 2022. Martial law has been extended in 90-day intervals by Ukraine's Parliament since the beginning of Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine in February 2014.

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