The presence is a part of a broad clandestine operation that features the CIA.
By Dave DeCamp / Antiwar.com
US particular operations forces are on the bottom in Ukraine as a part of a broad covert operation that features CIA personnel, The Intercept reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed US intelligence and army officers.
The report stated that the US withdrew its CIA and particular operations belongings from Ukraine shortly earlier than Russia’s invasion, though one US official stated the CIA “by no means utterly left.”
The CIA initially predicted that Kyiv would fall rapidly to Russia, however after it turned clear that wouldn’t occur, the Biden administration despatched its covert belongings again into Ukraine.
The report stated that US clandestine operations inside Ukraine “at the moment are much more intensive than they had been early within the battle, when US intelligence officers had been fearful that Russia would steamroll over the Ukrainian military.”
A number of present and former intelligence officers stated that there “is a a lot bigger presence of each CIA and US particular operations personnel and sources in Ukraine than there have been on the time of the Russian invasion in February.”
Again in June, The New York Occasions reported that there was a CIA presence in Ukraine, but it surely made no point out of US particular operations forces. The Occasions report did say that a number of US allies have particular operations troops in Ukraine, together with Britain, France, Canada, and Lithuania.
The Intercept report stated the covert operations inside Ukraine are being carried out beneath a covert presidential discovering that signifies President Biden has quietly notified Congress of a “broad program of clandestine operations contained in the nation.” The report stated that the discovering President Biden is utilizing is an altered model of a discovering initially through the Obama administration.
It’s not clear what the US personnel are doing inside Ukraine or the place precisely they’re working, however the presence dangers frightening Russia. The covert operations contradict President Biden’s pledge to not ship troops into Ukraine, which he stated earlier than Russia’s invasion may spark a “world battle.”
