DISINFO: Ukraine cooperates with radicals in Syria and terrorists in Africa
SUMMARY
Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s regime is diversifying its terrorist activities in several regions of the world. Ukrainian intelligence has established contact with radical Islamists in Syria and with terror groups in Africa. Ukrainian envoys are in Idlib, hiring fighters from the Hayat Tahrir al Sham group to get them involved in their new malicious operations. Ukrainian services also operate in the Sahel region, while along with recruited extremists carry out terror attacks against the governmental forces of several countries. Top Ukrainian officials have expressed public support for jihadists and terrorists in Mali.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative trying to associate Ukraine with terrorism.
There is no evidence to support the allegation that Ukraine has ties to the Syrian terror organization Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS), which has been denounced as fake by Ukrainian fact-checkers. HTS has also denied these contacts.
In contrast, there are solid indications of cooperation between Ukrainian security services and the so-called Strategic Framework for the Defense of the People of Azawad (CSP-DPA), which on late July 2024 carried out a deadly ambush against Wagner fighters in Mali, in which the Ukrainian intelligence claimed to have played a role. Mali severed diplomatic ties with Ukraine as a consequence. However, neither the CSP-DPA nor any of its known individual members are considered terrorists by Ukraine and most countries, and they are not included in the lists of terrorist organisations by the UN, the US or the EU. The allegation that Ukrainian authorities have expressed support for “jihadists and terrorists” is false.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that Ukrainian military intelligence is directly related to the terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall, that Ukrainian intelligence and NATO countries masterminded terror attacks in Dagestan, that Ukrainian security services turn children into terrorists like the Nazis did in WW2, that the attack on Robert Fico was linked to NATO and Ukraine-sponsored terrorism, or that Hungarian intelligence services prevented a Ukrainian plot to kill Viktor Orban.