Ukraine wanted to attack Russian troops in Syria

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Even two weeks after the appearance of the first classified documents from the US, the Pentagon leaks are still providing new revelations.

As the Washington Post writes, a leaked document allegedly revealed that Ukraine was planning an attack on Russian troops in Syria. The target of the attack, which was supposed to take place last winter, was Russian troops and Wagner mercenaries in Syria.

Selenski retreated

But it never got that far. As the document shows, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (45) would have ordered the planning to be halted in December. It is unclear why he withdrew. However, experts believe he did this for a number of reasons: pressure from the US, Ukraine’s limited supply of drones, or doubts whether the attacks could be successful.

However, the document, which is based on findings from Jan. 23, describes how the planning went. It now appears that Ukrainian military intelligence wanted to launch a covert attack on Russian forces with the help of Kurdish intelligence officials.

By introducing a new battlefield thousands of miles from the war in Ukraine, they wanted to bring Russia and their Syrian paramilitary group Wagner to its knees. The cost and casualties of the attack should leave the Kremlin with no choice but to withdraw resources from Ukraine.

As the document shows, Ukrainian military intelligence allegedly advocated attacking Russian forces using unmanned aerial vehicles and possibly limiting their attacks to only the troops of the Wagner mercenary group.

Ukrainian officers even considered training members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the armed forces of Syria’s Kurdish-controlled autonomous northeastern region, to attack Russian targets.

Attack can further exacerbate the threat situation

Thousands of Russian troops have been stationed there since Russian President Vladimir Putin (70) intervened in Syria in 2015 to keep Assad’s controversial regime in power during the civil war. Since the Kremlin transferred some troops and equipment from Syria to the Ukrainian battlefield last fall, Kiev may have come to the conclusion that their withdrawal created vulnerabilities.

According to Swede Aron Lund (42), an employee of the think tank Century International, a Ukrainian attack on Russian forces in Syria “could intensify the threat to such an extent that the Russians would have to call in reinforcements”. This, in turn, would benefit the war effort in Ukraine.

However, as the document points out, without the support of the United States and Turkey, Kiev is unlikely to revise the plans or “impose significant costs on Russia in Syria.”

Should Ukraine nevertheless launch such an attack, “a Russian response directed against U.S. interests in the region could be triggered if support for an operation is attributed to the United States.” (dzc)

Source: Blick