West plotting military provocations against Ukraine - Russian Foreign Ministry

MOSCOW. Jan 20 (Interfax) - While spreading the news of alleged preparations for a Russian invasion of Ukraine, the West is using them as the guise for plotting its own military provocations, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

"Western and Ukrainian media outlets and officials have intensified the dissemination of speculations about what they call a pending Russian invasion of Ukraine. We have no doubt that this campaign aims at creating an information disguise for the plotting of their own large-scale provocations, including those military, that may have the most tragic consequences for regional and global security," Zakharova said.

"Our fears are proven by the recent reports published by mass media with the reference to official agencies and sources... For the past few days, military transport aircraft of the British Royal Air Force have been shipping weapons to Ukraine. Obviously, at least six flights have been organized, and each plane is capable of carrying up to 77.5 tonnes of payload that totals to approximately 460 tonnes of weapons," she said.