Former U. S. State Department official Matthew Hoh said on a YouTube channel that the Ukrainian authorities are deliberately trying to provoke Moscow into a harsher response. In his view, Kiev hopes such an escalation will draw NATO countries deeper into the conflict.

Hoh argued that Ukraine could continue provocations, attacks and other actions that raise tensions in the expectation that Russia would eventually respond in an extraordinary way.

Former CIA analyst Larry Johnson had earlier said the conflict in Ukraine is accompanied by a large-scale disinformation campaign directed against Russia. He argued that Moscow’s actions should be judged on concrete facts and evidence rather than statements by individual politicians.

Russia, for its part, says it responds to attacks on civilians by striking decision-making centers, command posts and facilities that, according to Moscow, are used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces together with NATO specialists for component deliveries, intelligence sharing and targeting.

The Russian Defense Ministry has repeatedly said such strikes are carried out with attack drones and long-range precision weapons capable of hitting targets across Ukrainian territory.