Two explosions rocked pro-Russian separatist-held sections of Ukraine, which U.S. President Joe Biden warned as further evidence that a Russian invasion was imminent.
What Happened: Russian news agencies put the first explosion in Luhansk, a city within the separatist-controlled People's Republic of Luhansk, at the Druzhba pipeline, the world's longest oil pipeline and the delivery channel for Russian oil into Europe. Videos of a massive inferno from the first explosion have been shared across social media.
A second explosion occurred around 40 minutes after the first, according to Russian news agency Interfax. It is uncertain where this occurred or if it also involved the pipeline.
Telegram channels belonging to the pro-Russian separatists who control the area claim the explosion and subsequent fire was the result of Ukrainians blowing up the pipeline. Luhansk has been off-limits to Western media and there is no independent verification on what occurred.
Earlier in the day, there were reports of an explosion created by a car bomb in the city of Donetsk within another separatist-controller area, the self-proclaimed Donetsk’s People’s Republic. The Russian RT news agency reported the targeted vehicle belongs to the head of the area’s militia; as with Luhansk, there is no Western media presence there and independent confirmation is not possible.
The controlling rulers in Luhansk and Donetsk have ordered civilian evacuations, claiming they feared military attack from the Ukrainian military. Ukraine’s government has denied it had any plans to enter the breakaway regions.
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What Else Happened: The first explosion occurred at 11 p.m. in Ukraine, or 4 p.m. EST. One hour earlier, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and her French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian released a joint statement warning that a so-called “false flag” incident sparking a Russian invasion of Ukraine could come from Luhansk and Donetsk.
In a speech from the White House shortly after the explosions occurred, Bide stated he was “convinced” Russian President Vladimir Putin has already “made the decision” to invade Ukraine and that troops will cross the border "in the coming week."
“We believe that they will target Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv, a city of 2.8 million innocent people,” said Biden in an address to the media this afternoon, adding that the separatist forces were intentionally trying to create an excuse for a Russian invasion.
"Over the last few days, we've seen reports of a major uptick in violations of the ceasefire by Russian-backed fighters attempting to provoke Ukraine in the Donbas," Biden continued. "It defies basic logic to believe the Ukrainians would choose this moment — with well over 150,000 troops arranged on its borders – to escalate a year-long conflict."
Photo: Screen shot from a social media video of the first of the two Luhansk explosions.
