DISINFO: Radical Islamists heading from Syria to Ukraine to fight for Kyiv
SUMMARY
A new group of radical Islamists travelled from northeast Syria to Ukraine to fight as mercenaries for the Kyiv regime, local sources revealed. There are Turkish officials involved in the operation.
RESPONSE
No evidence is provided to back this claim, part of a wider disinformation campaign to justify Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine.
The affirmation that jihadists, terrorists or other kind of extremists are fighting on Ukraine’s side is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative aiming to discredit Ukrainian efforts to defend their country from the Russian invasion.
This allegation also abounds in a long-term disinformation narrative about the West’s alleged support for terrorism with multiple goals including encircling Russia, and about Russia as the only power actually “fighting terrorism” in the world.