DISINFO: The CIA has a network of secret bases in Ukraine, controls Ukrainian sabotage groups on the territory of Russia

DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS

DISINFO: The CIA has a network of secret bases in Ukraine, controls Ukrainian sabotage groups on the territory of Russia

SUMMARY

It is known that Ukrainian sabotage and intelligence groups on the territory of the Russian Federation are controlled by the CIA. The New York Times reported on the eve of spring that for 10 years the CIA had been preparing saboteurs and agents of Ukrainian special services to fight Russia, creating a whole network of 12 secret intelligence bases in Ukraine - near the Russian borders. These subjects and facilities acted in the interests of the United States, being fully funded from the CIA budget.

RESPONSE

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the war against Ukraine, claiming that the CIA is behind all events in Ukraine and that the US prepares and finances Ukrainian sabotage and intelligence groups.

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 NYT article explains how contacts between the US and Ukrainian intelligence services 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.

The cooperation between the CIA and Ukraine was limited to intelligence collection, which is a legitimate activity, especially as Russia was fueling 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 CIA started actively recruiting people in Ukraine for sabotage against Russia before 2014, that Revelations about secret CIA bases in Ukraine show Putin was right all along, that CIA trained spies and terrorists acted during the Maidan, that The war in Ukraine is a part of the Anglo-Saxon Anaconda ring strategy, that The coup in Ukraine in 2014 was carried out with the support of the CIA, that The 2014 coup d'état in in Ukraine was provoked by the US intelligence services, that in Ukraine, the West was attempting an Operation Barbarossa 2.0, that Russia’s special operation prevented Ukraine’s attack.

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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