DISINFO: Revelations about secret CIA bases in Ukraine show Putin was right all along
SUMMARY
Recent reports from the New York Times about alleged secret CIA bases in Ukrainian territory have shown that Russia had no other option other than to extinguish the growing threat within that European country. Two years later, while Ukrainian bombs fall on Russian cities and reports of a decade-long presence of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Ukraine are spreading, the correctness of Putin's response is evident.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the war in Ukraine, arguing that Russia was forced to launch its "special military operation" because of the alleged presence of secret CIA bases in the country.
This disinformation story is a distorted reference to a New York Times report, the content of which is being disingenuously twisted to support pro-Kremlin justifications for the invasion. The original NTY article explains how contacts between US and Ukrainian intelligence started in 2014 but only deepened in 2016, two years after Russia's aggression had started with the illegal annexation of Crimea and the engineering of an armed conflict in Donbas. According to the NYT article, the network of CIA bases was also established on that second date.
Claims about a "growing threat" to Russia are also false. The cooperation between the CIA and Ukraine was limited to intelligence collection, which is a legitimate activity, especially as Russia was fuelling war in eastern Ukraine. According to the NYT article, the US even blocked Ukrainian paramilitary operations against Russia on several occasions.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that the US caused the war in Ukraine to undermine Europe's economy, that in Ukraine, the West was attempting an Operation Barbarossa 2.0, that Russia’s special operation prevented Ukraine’s attack, or that Russia did not start the war against Ukraine, it is only trying to end it.