The US has long been working in Ukraine to prepare operatives for subversive work against Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday. His comments came after the New York Times claimed the CIA has been actively involved in Ukraine since the 2014 Maidan coup.
“The work of so-called American advisers, most of whom departmentally belonged to the CIA, is well known,” Peskov told TASS when asked to comment on the NYT article published on Sunday.
These people “occupied jobs in the building of the presidential administration of Ukraine… this is not a secret,” the Kremlin spokesman added.
According to Peskov, the CIA and other US agencies began operating in Ukraine long before 2014, actively recruiting people and preparing them for “subversive work against our country.”
In its report, the NYT claimed that the CIA has turned Ukraine into a major asset to spy on Russia since the Maidan coup. It further alleged that the US has funded and organized a network of secret bases throughout Ukraine, making Kiev part of a “secret coalition” against Moscow.
According to NYT journalists, Ukraine currently hosts at least 12 spy bases that actively gather information on Russia, eavesdrop on its military communications, coordinate drone strikes, hack into Russian, Belarusian and Chinese satellites, and manage a network of agents inside Russia itself.
Back in October, the Washington Post also reported that the CIA had invested “tens of millions” of dollars in Ukraine since 2014 to transform Kiev’s spy agencies into “potent allies against Moscow.” The outlet stated that US intelligence services maintain a “significant presence” in Kiev to this day, even as the Ukrainian Security Service has carried out “dozens of assassinations against Russian officials, alleged collaborators, military officers and prominent war supporters,” such as journalist Daria Dugina, who was killed in August 2022.
Moscow, meanwhile, has repeatedly described increased US activity on Ukrainian territory, as well as Kiev’s NATO aspirations, as threats to its national security and one of the key reasons for launching its military operation in February 2022.