America’s CIA has trained the Ukrainian saboteurs and assassins who carry out attacks against Russian targets, according to a report.
The Washington Post reported this on Monday, citing intelligence and security officials both from Ukraine and the US as well as other Western countries.
They told the paper that CIA-trained operatives had assassinated “dozens” of Russians and pro-Moscow Ukrainians since the start of the special operation in Donbas last February.
According to the Post, since 2015, the CIA has spent tens of millions of dollars to transform Ukraine’s domestic security service, the SBU, and its military counterpart, the GUR, into strong allies against the Russians.
The CIA provided Ukrainian intelligence services with advanced surveillance systems, trained recruits at sites in Ukraine as well as the United States, built new headquarters for its departments in Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, and shared intelligence with Kiev’s forces, while maintaining a significant presence in the former Soviet republic, according to current and former Ukrainian and US officials.
In regard to what Kiev officials refer to as “liquidations,” dozens of terrorist operations against Russian officials and pro-Moscow Ukrainians, military officers behind the front lines and prominent war supporters deep inside Russia, have been carried out by the CIA-trained Ukrainian operatives.
The Post report said those assassinated by CIA-trained Ukrainian operatives include the daughter of a prominent Russian nationalist, a former Russian submarine commander jogging in a park in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar, and a militant blogger at a cafe in St. Petersburg, according to Ukrainian and Western officials.
According to the Post, the CIA had “no involvement” in the targeted killings. However, the Kremlin has repeatedly accused the United States of playing a direct role in the war in Ukraine since Russia launched its special military operation in Donbas 21 months ago, aiming to protest the pro-Moscow population there against the Kiev Nazi’s persecution while stopping the US-led NATO encroachment.
In addition to the numerous shipments of military aid to Kiev, including weapons and munitions, the US-led Western allies have slapped a slew of sanctions on Moscow to bring the Kremlin to heel.
