Terrorists set for deployment in Donbass were trained at US-controlled Al-Tanf base in Syria, Russian Intelligence warns

Russia launched a special operation in Ukraine on 24 February with a stated goal to demilitarise and de-Nazify the country. President Vladimir Putin authorised the op following a request for help from the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics, which have faced increasing bombardments by Kiev.

NATO countries are sending terrorist fighters to Ukraine, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service warned on Friday.

“The intelligence services of NATO countries are transferring foreign terrorist fighters to Ukraine… the US and UK intelligence services in recent weeks have de facto turned Polish territory into a ‘logistical hub’ used to supply weapons and smuggle fighters, including from the Middle East, to Ukraine,” the statement read.

 According to the intelligence service, the terrorists, who are to be deployed to Donbass, were trained at the US-controlled Al-Tanf military base in Syria.

 “At the end of 2021, the Americans released from prisons… several dozen Daesh (ISIS) terrorists, including citizens of Russia and CIS countries. These individuals were sent to the US-controlled Al-Tanf base, where they have undergone special training in subversive and terrorist warfare methods with a focus on the Donbass region,” the statement added.

The intelligence service said that most of the Daesh terrorists trained in Syria for deployment in Donbass were destroyed during Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine.

However, the United States continues to form new terrorist units in the Middle East and Africa in order to send them to Ukraine via Poland, the agency pointed out.

“The CIA and the US Army Special Operations Command continue to form new ‘Daesh fighter echelons’ in the Middle East and Africa. Their transfer to participate in subversive and terrorist activities in Ukraine is planned to be carried out through the territory of Poland.”

The Russian Defence Ministry said on Thursday that US military intelligence was stepping up a campaign to recruit mercenaries for Ukraine.

“US military intelligence has launched a large-scale propaganda campaign to recruit PMC [private military company] contractors to be sent to Ukraine. First of all, employees of the American PMCs Academi, Cubic, and Dyn Corporation are being recruited. […] Only last week, about 200 mercenaries from Croatia arrived through Poland, who joined one of the nationalist battalions in the southeast of Ukraine”, the Russian Defence Ministry’s spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.

He emphasised that foreign mercenaries in Ukraine cannot be considered prisoners of war (POW) if detained in line with international humanitarian law. When detained, they can expect criminal prosecution at best, Konashenkov also said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that nationalist and neo-Nazi formations, which include foreign mercenaries from the Middle East, are using civilians in Ukraine as human shields. The Kremlin stressed that neo-Nazis in Ukraine are using terrorist methods by deploying heavy weapons in residential areas.

Source: Sputnik