Recently, a number of scenarios of possible Russian provocations have been exposed in the media in the wake of U.S. reports of Moscow preparing a pretext for an invasion of Ukraine.
One of these scenarios that are now surfacing is a violent provocation against civilians in the occupied part of Donbas, including those who have been issued Russian passports, the Information Resistance OSINT community reports.
A unit with the 1st Army Corps of the Russian occupation forces, under the supervision of Russian handlers, is allegedly planning to open fire at the Brick Pond reservoir on the Feast of Epiphany to further accuse Ukraine’s Armed Forces of an insidious attack on local Orthodox believers, the report says.
Last week, January 15, 2022, for several hours, the occupiers launched the main fan of the ventilation shaft at the mine located just a mile away from the said reservoir.
It is important to understand that the area of the ventilation shaft had been shelled by occupation forces on February 14, 2020, and has not functioned ever since, being completely de-energized and deemed hazardous.
In turn, and in the northeast of the site, the occupying forces set up engineering communications for their platoon base.
According to the information received by the OSINT community, it is possible that on January 19, 2022, the occupiers plan to fire 82mm mortar shells targeting residents performing an Orthodox ritual in the said reservoir.
In turn, to mask the firing point and confuse observers as to who committed the attack, the main fan could be launched, to make its noise clearly audible to local residents.
Thus, Russia may proceed with staging a notorious casus belli, adding a religious factor to it, which Russian media would then use to justify further military incursion into Ukraine.
