British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday that an attack on a kindergarten in Ukraine was a false flag operation designed to discredit the Ukrainians.

"The picture is continuing to be very grim," Johnson told reporters during a visit to a military base in England, when asked about the latest intelligence on Ukraine.

"A kindergarten was shelled in what we are taking to be, what we know was a false flag operation designed to discredit the Ukrainians, designed to create a pre-text, a spurious provocation for Russian action."

"We fear very much that that is a thing we will see more of over the next few days," Johnson added.