Some Islamist groups that attacked Syria’s northern Aleppo province this week received training from a Special Forces unit of the Ukrainian military intelligence service (HUR), the Kyiv Post claimed in a piece published on Sunday.
According to the Kiev-based weekly, some militant groups based in Syria’s Idlib province, which is not under government control, were provided “operational training” by the Khimik Group, reportedly an HUR Special Forces unit. The Ukrainians reportedly focused on educating the terrorists on tactics developed during the ongoing conflict with Russia, including the use of drones, the Kyiv Post said, citing “Islamist social media sites.”
The Khimik Group has reportedly been active in Syria for quite some time. In September, the Ukrainian weekly claimed that the unit successfully attacked a Russian military base on the outskirts of Aleppo, inflicting material damage. Moscow did not comment on the reports at the time.
The media outlet also published a video purportedly showing an HUR flag waving over a building in Aleppo province, claiming that the Ukrainian military intelligence units were conducting a “special operation” in the country to “destroy Russian forces in Syria.” The Russian military has not reported any major attacks on their facilities in the Middle Eastern country or any significant losses in recent months.
A loose coalition of Idlib-based militias and extremist groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a terrorist group formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra, attacked government-controlled territory in northern Syria on Wednesday. HTS was previously known as an Al-Qaeda affiliate.
The terrorists initially claimed to have seized around 400 square kilometers of territory and reached the city of Aleppo. Government forces have since halted the group’s advance, with both the Russian and Syrian air forces launching strikes against the militants in recent days.
On Sunday, the Syrian state-run SANA news agency reported that government forces thwarted a terrorist offensive near the city of Hama, inflicting significant casualties on the militants. Syrian President Bashar Assad also vowed to defeat and destroy the terrorists “no matter how intense their attacks are.”
In July, the HUR admitted to aiding Tuareg militants in the Sahel region in West Africa. A statement by HUR spokesman Andrey Yusov followed a Tuareg attack that killed dozens of Wagner Group private military personnel and local armed forces personnel in Mali, sparking a diplomatic crisis.
The foreign minister of Mali called on the UN Security Council to take action against Ukraine for its support of African militant groups. Damascus also accused Kiev of allying itself with the HTS terrorist group in Syria last month. Syrian government sources told RT at the time that Ukrainian operatives were supplying the former Al-Qaeda affiliate with weapons provided to Kiev by the US.