Thread by @Reuters

U.S. President Joe Biden said there was now every indication Russia was planning to invade Ukraine, including signs Moscow was carrying out a false flag operation to justify it, after Ukrainian forces and pro-Moscow rebels traded fire reut.rs/3uX1zVr 1/6

Moscow, for its part, ejected the number two official from the U.S. embassy and released a strongly worded letter to the United States accusing Washington of ignoring its security demands 2/6

Ukraine and the pro-Russian rebels gave conflicting accounts of Thursday's shelling. Details could not be established independently. Reports from both sides suggest an incident more serious than the ceasefire violations that are regularly reported on the line of contact 3/6

Ukraine's President Zelenskiy said the pro-Russian forces had shelled a kindergarten, in what he called a 'big provocation.'

Moscow was 'seriously concerned' about reports of an escalation after the separatists accused government forces of opening fire 4/6

A senior Ukrainian government source said the shelling at the line of contact with Russian-backed separatist forces went beyond ceasefire violations routinely reported throughout the conflict.

'It is not typical. It looks a lot like a provocation,' the source said 5/6

Moscow denies Western accusations it is planning to invade its neighbor and said this week it was pulling back some of the more than 100,000 troops it has sent to the area.

The United States said thousands more troops were still arriving reut.rs/3oXwixT 6/6