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An apparent car bomb reportedly exploded outside a government building in the separatist-controlled city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine Friday, raising fears that a xe2x80x9cfalse flagxe2x80x9d operation to precipitate a Russian invasion was already underway.

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The vehicle exploded in a parking lot in the center of the city at around 7 p.m. Moscow time, reported Russian state-run media agency RIA Novosti, which cited a Telegram channel for the Peoplexe2x80x99s Militia Department of the self-proclaimed Donetsk Peoplexe2x80x99s Republic.xc2xa0

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The blast reportedly could be heard throughout the city of about 900,000 people.

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Alleged images from the scene showed a vehicle engulfed in flames. Later pictures indicated the car was nearly completely destroyed, with just its front half intact.xc2xa0

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Other Russian-backed news agencies claimed the vehicle belonged to Denis Sinenkov, chief of the Peoplexe2x80x99s Militia. It was not immediately clear if anyone was killed or severely injured in the blast, though some reports claimed one person was injured.xc2xa0

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The Post was unable to immediately confirm whom the vehicle belonged to or who was behind the explosion.xc2xa0

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The United States has repeatedly warned of false flag operations that could fabricate Ukrainian aggression to justify a Russian invasion.xc2xa0

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Earlier Friday, separatist leader Denis Pushilin ordered a mass evacuation to Russia of all women, children and elderly civilians in the area, claiming Ukraine was planning to invade the separatist-controlled Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

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xe2x80x9cIn recent months, we have been observing a daily increase in the number of military personnel and lethal weapons by Ukraine, including Smerch and Uragan multiple launch rocket systems, NLAW rocket launchers, as well as Javelins and Stingers along the entire line of contact,xe2x80x9d Pushilin said in a video statement.

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xe2x80x9cToday their guns are aimed at civilians, at us and our children. The armed forces of the enemy are in combat formations and are ready for the forceful capture of Donbass.xe2x80x9d

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Ukraine immediately denied the accusation.

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xe2x80x9cWe categorically refute Russian disinformation reports on Ukrainexe2x80x99s alleged offensive operations or acts of sabotage in chemical production facilities,xe2x80x9d Foreign Minister Dymtro Kuleba tweeted. xe2x80x9cUkraine does not conduct or plan any such actions in the Donbas. We are fully committed to diplomatic conflict resolution only.xe2x80x9d

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As shelling attacks hit eastern Ukraine this week, government officials and Russian separatists each blamed the other for the attacks.xc2xa0

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On Thursday, a shell hit a kindergarten building in the village of Stanytsia Luhanska, one of approximately 500 explosions recorded in the region that day. Friday saw nearly 600 explosions recorded in the area, with one diplomatic source telling Reuters the violence was the most intense since a 2015 cease-fire halted major combat operations.

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xe2x80x9cTheyxe2x80x99re shooting xe2x80x94 everyone and everything,xe2x80x9d the diplomat said. xe2x80x9cTherexe2x80x99s been nothing like this since 2014-15.xe2x80x9d

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On Friday, the United Kingdom revealed they have intelligence exposing xe2x80x9cRussian plans to engineer a pretext for the invasion of Ukraine.xe2x80x9d

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xe2x80x9cWe know the Russian Governmentxe2x80x99s playbook. Do not be deceived,xe2x80x9d the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office tweeted. xe2x80x9cWe call on Russia to de-escalate, and to engage in meaningful talks. #StandWithUkrainexe2x80x9d

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The London government indicated that the most likely false flag operation involved a staged attack on civilians that would be blamed on Ukrainexe2x80x99s military or xe2x80x9cterrorists.xe2x80x9d Another possibility, the Foreign Office said, was that Moscow would provoke violence in order to cast its forces as peacekeepers.

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On Thursday, the UKxe2x80x99s Defence Ministry outlined possible invasion routes Russia could take as tens of thousands of its forces sit along Ukrainexe2x80x99s border.xc2xa0

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The US currently believes Russia has massed between 169,000 and 190,000 military personnel xe2x80x9cin and nearxe2x80x9d Ukraine, up from approximately 100,000 as of Jan. 30, according to Ambassador Michael Carpenter, the US envoy to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

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xe2x80x9cThis estimate includes military troops along the border, in Belarus, and in occupied Crimea; Russian National Guard and other internal security units deployed to these areas; and Russian-led forces in eastern Ukraine,xe2x80x9d Carpenter said in a statement to an OSCE meeting in Vienna, describing it as xe2x80x9cthe most significant military mobilization in Europe since the Second World War.xe2x80x9d

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