The U.S. has revealed new intelligence of a Russian plot to use a phony video as a pretext for an invasion of Ukraine. Senior administration officials said Thursday that the U.S. believes Russia has already recruited players to stage a propaganda video depicting "graphic scenes of a staged false explosion with corpses, actors depicting mourners, and images of destroyed locations and military equipment. U.S. officials registered a record-breaking number of efforts by Russian state media and proxies to push out anti-American and anti-Ukrainian content online. In another example of Russia's online malign influence campaign, self-declared "Russian federal news agency" Avia.pro published an article on January 23, claiming, "the United States has begun moving its heavy tanks and light armored vehicles to the border with Ukraine, apparently preparing to use these vehicles to attack Russia."
