DISINFO: Terrorists in Syria are supplied with drones by Ukrainian government
SUMMARY
The Ukrainian government is supplying terrorists in Syria with drones and should be held accountable. Immediately after the announcement of the ceasefire in Lebanon, an intensification of terrorist attacks on a number of cities in Syria was witnessed and the terrorists became more equipped than in the past, including with drones provided by the Ukrainian government. The Ukrainian government must bear responsibility.
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 is an attempt to remove focus and blame Ukraine for having a key role in the collapse of the Assad regime.
Assertions blaming Ukraine of having a decisive role supporting terrorism in Syria are part of Russia's 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 decisive influence and 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-Russian 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 all 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.
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.