乌克兰利沃夫——乌克兰东部的紧张局势加剧，俄罗斯控制的分裂分子炮击了乌克兰政府控制的领土上的一家托儿所警告升级人们担心俄罗斯可能正在寻找发动入侵的借口。

据乌克兰军方称，周四早上，分裂分子发射的迫击炮弹击中了靠近乌克兰军队前线的Stanytsa Luhansk村的第21幼儿园，造成三名成人受伤。乌克兰士兵拍摄的视频显示，学校的墙上被炸了一个洞。乌克兰武装部队称，20名儿童不得不撤离，但没有受伤。

乌克兰总统弗拉基米尔·泽伦斯基(Volodymyr Zelenskyy)指责俄罗斯支持的分裂分子进行“挑衅性炮击”，美国警告称，俄罗斯正准备在未来几天发动入侵。美国总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)周四告诉记者，“我们掌握的每一个迹象都表明，他们准备进入乌克兰，而且”我们有理由相信，他们正在进行一场假旗行动，以便有借口进入。"

北约秘书长延斯·斯托尔滕贝格也表示，他担心俄罗斯“正试图为武装袭击乌克兰制造借口”

开火的同时，俄罗斯控制的分裂分子指责乌克兰对他们的领土进行“大规模”炮击，并警告前线局势“严重恶化”。

自行宣布成立的顿涅茨克和卢甘斯克人民共和国周四发布“紧急声明”，声称乌克兰军队向九个村庄的平民区开火，包括使用大口径迫击炮。卢甘斯克“共和国”的政治顾问罗季翁·米罗什尼克(Rodion Miroshnik)指责乌克兰下令进行“大规模挑衅”。

这两个未获承认的小国控制着乌克兰顿巴斯地区的一部分，此前俄罗斯在2014年的战斗中帮助创建了它们，它们仍然严重依赖莫斯科及其秘密驻扎在那里的军队。

几周来，分离主义领导人和俄罗斯官方媒体一直指责乌克兰准备对分离主义领土发动进攻。西方官员和独立专家担心，俄罗斯可能正在为一个借口打基础，如果它选择攻击，它可能会用这个借口来证明军事干预是合理的。

本周，俄罗斯对分离主义者声称发现的集体坟墓展开了战争罪调查，据称这些坟墓中埋有乌克兰暴行的受害者。俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京在周二的新闻发布会上表示，乌克兰东部正在发生“种族灭绝”。

在乌克兰八年的冲突中，至少有14000人死亡，许多受害者死于双方不分青红皂白的炮火。然而，没有证据表明俄罗斯声称的大规模屠杀或种族灭绝。

周三深夜，俄罗斯驻联合国代表团散发了一份文件，指控乌克兰在东部地区犯下了大规模战争罪行，此前联合国安理会将就这场战争举行会议。

美国国务卿布林肯周四在联合国安理会会议上指责俄罗斯计划为即将入侵乌克兰制造借口，挑出大规模坟墓的说法，并说俄罗斯可能还会进行虚假的无人机袭击或化学或生物武器袭击。

俄罗斯可能会试图将此类事件称为“种族清洗或种族灭绝”。布林肯说。他说，这将是“对我们在这个会议厅里不能掉以轻心的一个概念的嘲弄。”

“根据我的家族史，我也不会掉以轻心，”布林肯说，他指的是他在大屠杀中幸存的继父。

布林肯表示，美国的信息现在表明，俄罗斯在乌克兰附近集结军队意味着他们“正准备在未来几天对乌克兰发动攻击”

卡洛·阿莱格里/路透社

美国国务卿安东尼·布林肯在联合国安全委员会会议上发言...

他警告说，在散布了关于乌克兰袭击分裂分子的虚假说法后，俄罗斯可能会召开高级别紧急会议来解决这些问题，然后它将发动攻击。布林肯表示，随着俄罗斯坦克和军队向包括首都基辅在内的城市推进，俄罗斯的计划将是在大规模网络攻击的支持下，对乌克兰全境进行空中轰炸。

布林肯说:“今天，我们在这里非常详细地阐述了这一点，希望通过与世界分享我们所知道的情况，我们可以影响俄罗斯放弃战争的道路，在还有时间的时候选择一条不同的道路。”。

俄罗斯官员将美国的指控斥为“歇斯底里”，并指出，本周宣布的俄罗斯可能发动攻击的日期2月16日已经过去，但任何事情都没有实现。

“我们早就澄清了一切，解释了一切，宣布的所谓入侵日期已经过去，因此，我对你的建议是不要让自己陷入尴尬的境地，”俄罗斯副外长谢尔盖·韦尔希宁在联合国安理会会议期间告诉布林肯。

在美国官员上周私下向北约盟国通报情况后，2月16日被报道为俄罗斯可能发动攻击的一天，但美国官员说，他们确定这一天的原因是因为普京下令军队从这一天开始做好准备。

俄罗斯议会本周早些时候通过了一项法律，呼吁普京承认分离主义地区从乌克兰独立出来。这一步骤将是一次重大升级，为俄罗斯正式吞并它们开辟了道路，就像它在2014年吞并克里米亚一样。

但到目前为止，普京已经表示，他不会就上诉采取行动，他在周二表示，俄罗斯将继续努力达成所谓的明斯克协议。2015年的和平协议旨在结束乌克兰东部的冲突。俄罗斯承认这些自行宣布成立的共和国，将意味着它退出明斯克协议。

俄罗斯军方本周声称将从乌克兰附近撤回部分部队，俄罗斯国防部周四再次坚称，部分部队正在返回基地。一名发言人说，来自俄罗斯西部和南部军区的第一批部队已经到达远离边境的大本营，更多的部队正在向那里移动。

但北约国家和乌克兰以及独立分析人士表示，到目前为止，没有证据表明俄罗斯正在撤出大量军队，事实上，俄罗斯正在继续扩大军力。

俄罗斯的大规模演习仍在继续邻国白俄罗斯和黑海，计划持续到2月20日，之后俄罗斯表示其军队将离开。俄罗斯外交部副部长周四表示，西方国家是时候“冷静下来”了，并称演习将很快结束。

Tensions rise in Ukraine as Russian-backed separatist shelling hits nursery school

LVIV, Ukraine -- Tensions have jumped in eastern Ukraine as Russian-controlled separatists there shelled a nursery in Ukrainian government-held territory andwarned of escalation, amid concerns that Russia may be looking to build a pretext to launch an invasion.

Mortar rounds fired by the separatists struck kindergarten number 21 in the village of Stanytsa Luhansk on Thursday morning close to the frontline with Ukrainian troops, injuring three adults, according to Ukraine’s military. Video filmed by Ukrainian soldiers showed a hole blown in the school’s wall. Twenty children had to be evacuated but were unhurt, Ukraine’s armed forces said.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused the Russian-backed separatists of “provocative shelling” and as the United States warned Russia is now preparing to launch an invasion in the coming days. President Joe Biden on Thursday told reporters “every indicator we have is they’re prepared to go into Ukraine, and “we have reason to believe they are engaged in a false flag operation to have an excuse to go in."

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also said he was concerned Russia “is trying to stage a pretext for an armed attack against Ukraine.”

The firing occurred at the same time as the Russian-controlled separatists accused Ukraine of “large-scale” shelling onto their territory and warned of a “substantial worsening” of the situation along the front line.

The self-declared Peoples Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk on Thursday issued “emergency statements” claiming Ukrainian troops had fired onto civilian areas in nine villages, including with heavy caliber mortars. Rodion Miroshnik, a political advisor for the Lugansk ‘republic’, accused Ukraine of ordering a “massive provocation.”

The two unrecognized statelets control part of Ukraine’s Donbas regions, after Russia helped create them during fighting in 2014 and they remain heavily dependent on Moscow and its troops, which are covertly stationed there.

For weeks, the separatist leadership and Russian state media have accused Ukraine of preparing to mount an offensive against the separatist territories. Western officials and independent experts worry Russia may be laying the groundwork for a pretext it could use to justify a military intervention should it choose to attack.

This week, Russia opened a war crimes investigation into separatist claims to have found mass graves, supposedly containing the victims of alleged Ukrainian atrocities. Russian President Vladimir Putin told a press conference on Tuesday “genocide” was taking place in eastern Ukraine.

At least 14,000 people have died during the eight-year conflict in Ukraine, many of the victims died following indiscriminate artillery fire by both sides. However, no evidence has emerged of large-scale massacres or genocide as Russia claims.

Late Wednesday night, Russia's mission to the United Nations circulated a document that alleged Ukraine had committed large-scale war crimes in the eastern regions ahead of a U.N. Security Council session on the war.

U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in the U.N. council session Thursday accused Russia of planning to manufacture a pretext for an imminent invasion of Ukraine, singling out the mass grave claims and saying Moscow might also stage phony drone strikes or chemical or biological weapons attacks.

Russia might try to claim such an event as “ethnic cleansing or a genocide.” Blinken said. He said that would make a “mockery of a concept that we in this chamber do not take lightly.”

“Nor do I take lightly, based on my family history,” said Blinken, a reference to his stepfather who survived the Holocaust.

Blinken said the U.S.’ information now indicates that Russia’s build up of forces near Ukraine means they “are preparing to launch an attack against Ukraine in the coming days.”

He warned that after spreading false claims about a Ukrainian attack on the separatist, Russia might convene high-level emergency meeting to address them, after which it would launch an assault. Blinken said the Russian plan would see aerial bombardment across Ukraine, backed up by massive cyberattacks, as Russian tanks and troops moved on cities, including the capital Kyiv.

"Here today, we are laying it out in great detail with a hope that by sharing what we know with the world, we can influence Russia to abandon the path of war and choose a different path while there's still time," Blinken said.

Russian officials have dismissed the U.S. accusations as “hysteria” and pointed out that a date announced for the possible Russian attack this week, Feb. 16, had passed without anything materializing.

"We have long ago clarified everything and explained everything, and the announced date of the so-called invasion is behind us, so therefore, my advice to you is not present yourself in an awkward situation," Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin told Blinken during the UN council meeting.

The Feb. 16 was reported as a possible day for a Russian attack after U.S. officials privately briefed NATO allies last week, but U.S. officials have said the reason they identified it was because of information Putin has ordered his military to be ready to go from that date.

Russia’s parliament earlier this week passed a law appealing to Putin to recognize the separatist regions as independent from Ukraine. The step would be a major escalation, opening the path for Russia to formally annex them as it did Crimea in 2014.

But Putin so far has signaled he will not act on the appeal, saying on Tuesday that Russia will continue to work through the so-called Minsk agreements. The 2015 peace deal aimed at end the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Russia recognizing the self-declared republics would amount to it exiting the Minsk deal.

Russia’s military this week has claimed to be moving some of its forces back from near Ukraine and its Defense Ministry on Thursday insisted again some troops were now returning to base. A spokesman said, the first units from Russia’s western and southern military districts, had already reached their home bases far from the border and more were moving there now.

But NATO countries and Ukraine, as well as independent analysts, have said so far there is no evidence of Russia is withdrawing substantial forces and that in reality it is continuing its build up.

Huge Russian exercises are continuing inneighboring Belarusand the Black Sea, scheduled to go on until Feb. 20, after which Russia has said its forces will leave. A Russian deputy foreign minister on Thursday said it was time for western countries “to calm down,” saying the exercises would soon end.