Russia Wants A Pretext For War And These Drones Could Supply It

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Thursday that Russia may manufacture an excuse to go to war with Ukraine, perhaps in the form of a false-flag attack on a vulnerable target such as a school or hospital.

“We don’t know exactly the form it will take. It could be …a staged drone strike against civilians, or a fake – even a real – attack using chemical weapons,” Blinken told the U.N. Security Council.

By staging an attack with the type of drone that Ukrainian forces use on the front line in Donbas, Russia might engineer just such an incident thanks to the drones’ unique properties.

In the Donbas region, Russian-backed separatists face Ukrainian forces. In theory a cease-fire is in effect, but violations are extremely common. On Thursday, OCSE monitors recorded “189 ceasefire violations, including 128 explosions” in the region. These are typically artillery, rocket or mortar attacks. The unguided shells are inaccurate and generally cause few casualties…