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The intelligence services of Ukraine and the United States are plotting attacks against Russian forces in Syria and recruiting militants from the war-torn country for Kiev forces, Sputnik reported on June 30, citing a Syrian diplomatic military official.
The unnamed official told the Russian news agency that Ukrainian and American intelligence officials are operating from the Iraqi autonomous region of Kurdistan.
The recruitment of Syrian militants is being directed by the honorary consulate of Ukraine in Erbil, Farhad Ali Shakir, the official said, adding that the militants will be trained at bases in Iraq by Ukrainian officers who prepared for this task in U.S. institutions.
“As the American administration’s planned path for the conflict in Ukraine is failing, the U.S. is taking additional steps to increase the recruitment of those willing to fight into the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” the source explained.
The source alleged that the CIA, the U.S. main intelligence agency, is now negotiating with the Kurdish People’s Defense Units (YPG) and the heads of several Arab tribes in Syria to recruit militants for Kiev forces, with a monthly salary for each militant of up to $2,000.
The YPG is the core faction of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which control a large part of Syria’s northeastern region including the border line with Iraq’s Kurdistan.
Attempts by Kiev forces to recruit military from Syria were first reported just a few days after the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine in February of last year.
Last April, a report by The Washington Post citing leaked U.S. intelligence documents revealed a plot by the Ukrainian intelligence and the SDF to launch attacks against Russian bases and key oil fields in Syria. The SDF has since denied any involvement in such a plot.
Ukraine launched its so-called spring counteroffensive early on in June. However, its forces are yet to make any meaningful gains on the ground, despite sustaining heavy losses. Ukraine and the U.S. are likely stepping up efforts to recruit Syrian militants in order to use them as cannon fodder on hot fronts.
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