Russia is employing a well-worn technique of accusing a foe of carrying out an attack it did not carry out.

This time, it accuses Ukrainian forces of blowing up a fertilizer storage facility.

According to Russia’s defense ministry, the attack was carried out so that Ukrainian forces could accuse Russian forces of using chemical weapons.

Russia further says that Ukrainian security personnel attempted to stage a second “false flag” incident by requesting bodies to “simulate a Russian air strike.”

Neither of these claims is supported by evidence.

Moscow has a history of wrongly accusing its adversaries of organizing “provocations” that were either never carried out or were later carried out by itself or their supporters.

What does Moscow say?

Ukrainian forces “carried out an explosion of a tanker with fertilizer, possibly ammonium nitrate, which resulted in a cloud of orange smoke that dissipated after some time,” according to a Russian Ministry of Defense briefing on May 11.

According to Moscow, the purpose of the explosion in the Kharkiv region was to accuse Russia of employing chemical weapons in order for the Kyiv regime to “extend greater military aid from the West.”

The accusation that Ukrainian forces were responsible for the explosion was not backed up by any evidence.

What is the incident?

According to Wim Zwijnenburg, an arms researcher at Pax, a Dutch humanitarian organization, video and satellite data showing the agricultural structures hit are consistent with an explosion where facilities carrying ammonium nitrate have been set on fire, generating a characteristic orange-colored cloud.

Mr. Zwijnenburg claims that since the Russian invasion in February, up to 40 comparable agricultural complexes have been destroyed in Ukraine.

Dolgenkoye has been shelled by Russian soldiers in recent weeks, with satellite data showing numerous fields in the vicinity devastated by bombardment.