Russian President Vladimir Putin‘splan to invade Ukraine in February 2022 involved a false flag operation designed to appear as a Ukrainian attack on Russian interests followed by a punitive invasion to overwhelm the Ukrainians. With Putin’s troops ready to descend, he would deliver an ultimatum and then a crushing blow.

One major reason his set-up failed was that the White House leaked intelligence on both the false flag and the Russian mobilization. Russia could still invade, and, obviously, it did, but it could not shield itself in righteousness. Simultaneously, the U.S. intelligence community’s forewarning gave Ukraine critical time to organize its defense.