December 22 – On Tuesday (21st local time), Russian Defense Secretary Saugu said that U.S. mercenaries in Donetsk, Ukraine, were preparing to use chemical weapons to make provocations.
According to the Russian satellite news agency, Saugu said at the expanded meeting of the Russian Ministry of Defense on the 21st that employees of U.S. private military enterprises shipped containers containing unidentified chemicals to the ground in order to provoke the cities of Afdiyevka and Dividend Liman.
Shoigu said that according to the information available to the Russian Ministry of Defense, more than 120 employees of U.S. private military enterprises are currently gathered in Donetsk oblast. They open shooting ranges in local residential buildings and important areas to train Ukrainian special forces and militant military organizations to make provocations.
Shoigu also said that the United States is strengthening its military presence near the Russian border, and the United States has now deployed about 8,000 military personnel in Eastern Europe.
