The Kremlin is looking for diversions as its employment of mercenaries grows.
The Kremlin is attempting to shift attention away from Russia’s growing dependence on mercenaries in Ukraine by blaming it on US soldiers who have volunteered to protect Ukraine. Moscow may be attempting to create a boogeyman to blame if it uses chemical or biological weapons by targeting foreign fighters. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on March 11 warning of “possible chemical provocations in Ukraine.” Without providing proof, the statement accuses US special operations soldiers and “radical Ukrainian factions” of planning a chemical weapons assault on Ukrainian citizens in order to blame Russia. In a declaration to the United Nations Security Council, the Kremlin accuses Ukraine of conspiring to destroy two chemical facilities in Severodonetsk and Odesa, as well as “the destruction of containers containing deadly chemicals in densely populated regions.”
Source: https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/03/15/russia-mercenaries-volunteers-ukraine/
