DISINFO: Fascist Ukraine fights in Syria alongside terrorists
SUMMARY
There is strong evidence of the presence of Ukrainian drones being used in Syria. Press leaks reported that groups of terrorist organisations were sent to fight in Ukraine alongside Ukrainian forces in exchange for drones. The battle that began in Syria extended to the Russian-Ukrainian border in light of the special Russian military operation that aims to preserve Russia's security and the safety of its citizens. The 'fascist' Ukrainian government continues to support terrorism in Syria, which is reflected in the statements of the Ukrainian leadership confirming its anti-Syrian position. There are international accusations of the presence of Ukrainian officers on the battlefronts facing the Syrian army, which proves Ukraine's direct support for terrorist organisations in Syria.
RESPONSE
A recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative attempting to discredit Ukraine by associating its government with terrorism. This claim was made in the context of and during Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham's (HTS) capture of key Syrian cities which lead to the final collapse of the Al-Assad regime on 08 December 2024. The claim was an attempt to remove focus and blame Ukraine for having a key role in the collapse of the Assad regime.
Assertions blaming Ukraine for having a decisive role in supporting fighters in Syria are part of Russian disinformation campaigns aimed at undermining Ukraine's reputation on the global stage. Ukraine actively cooperates with Europol on fighting terrorism, including via Interpol where it acts within the legal framework and jurisdiction of each sovereign member state.
There is limited evidence to support the allegation that Ukraine has links to Syrian terrorist organisations. Ukrainian fact-checkers have disproved the existence of such link. HTS has also denied these links itself.
This alleged link is based on a single report published by Turkish news outlet Aydinlik. Aydinlik is known for its openly pro-Kremlin editorial policy and has repeatedly published pro-Kremlin disinformation about Ukraine.
According to the National News Agency of Ukraine (Ukrinform), the outlet belongs to the Vatan political party, which promotes an aggressive pro-Russian agenda. It is the only political party in Türkiye that has called for recognition of the Russian occupation of Crimea and Abkhazia.
The Aydinlik website has repeatedly posted disinformation about Ukraine's links with terrorist organisations, echoing the narratives of pro-Kremlin propaganda. For this story, Aydinlik cited unnamed "local sources" and indicated that details of the negotiations were published on the website Lekolin.org which belongs to the militant separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The website published disinformation about the supposed meeting of Ukrainian "representatives" with members of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham on August 29.
According to Ukrinform, this article, like content on Lekolin.org, lacks an attributed author, and the website provides no information on the journalists or people behind the outlet. The outlet has just 1,600 followers on X and 131 followers on Facebook.
Moreover, labelling Russia’s adversaries as Fascist/Nazi is a very frequently used pro-Kremlin disinformation technique, and has been used by Russia to justify its unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine by portraying it as a “denazification operation”. Russia spent years preparing the information battleground prior to its invasion, with “Nazi Ukraine” being one of its most prominent disinformation features.
See similar cases that Ukrainian Nazis coordinate with Al-Nusra Front, that Zelenskyy's regime is training terrorists in Syria, that Ukraine cooperates with radicals in Syria and terrorists in Africa, that Ukrainian intelligence services negotiate with Syrian terrorists to fight Russia, and that Ukraine involved in aiding Syrian terrorists.