Moscow criticised Western governments and media on Friday for launching a "large-scale disinformation campaign" about a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine, accusing them of seeking to divert attention away from their own aggressive actions.
The remark by the Russian Foreign Ministry comes as US officials warned that a Russian invasion of Ukraine is becoming increasingly likely.
"At the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022, the global information space faced a media campaign unprecedented in its scale and sophistication, the purpose of which is to convince the world community that the Russian Federation is preparing an invasion of the territory of Ukraine," CNN quoted the Russian Foreign Ministry as saying.
The United States and its allies advised their citizens to flee Ukraine as soon as possible to prevent a Russian invasion, which Washington warned could happen at any time.
If Americans stay in Ukraine, they will not be evacuated by the military, according to US national security adviser Jake Sullivan, who advised them to leave within 48 hours.
"We continue to see signs of Russian escalation, including new forces arriving at the Ukrainian border," Sullivan told reporters. "We are in the window when an invasion could begin at any time."
The Associated Press reported that the State Department plans to declare early on Saturday that all American workers at the Kyiv embassy will be ordered to leave the country ahead of a feared Russian offensive, citing anonymous US officials.
The State Department had previously ordered US embassy personnel' families to leave Kyiv. It had, however, left it up to the decision of non-essential workers to leave.
Earlier on Friday, the Pentagon stated that it would send an additional 3,000 combat troops to Poland, joining 1,700 already stationed there as a show of American support to Nato members concerned about Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Their mission will be to train and provide deterrence but not to engage in combat in Ukraine.
WHAT US ALLIES SAID
Australia and New Zealand have joined Britain, Japan, Latvia, Norway, and the Netherlands in urging their residents to evacuate as quickly as possible. Israel announced that family of embassy personnel were being evacuated.
WHAT RUSSIA WANTS
Russia has stockpiled around 100,000 troops on the Ukrainian border, but it denies that it intends to invade.
Moscow is seeking assurances from the West, including no missile deployments near its borders, no NATO membership for Ukraine, and a reduction in NATO's military infrastructure.
The West calls Russia's key demands "non-starters," but is open to discussing arms control and confidence-building measures.