Ukrainian authorities cooperated with the PYD, a Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), to conduct covert operations against Russian forces in Syria, according to Aydınlık.
Ukraine also allegedly made contact with military personnel from Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a Sunni Islamist political and armed organisation involved in the Syrian Civil War. According to the source, a Ukrainian delegation visited Idlib in recent months to meet with HTS leaders. Details of the meeting were also published on Lekolin, the analytical website of the PKK, an internationally recognised terrorist organisation.
According to Lekolin, the meeting in Idlib took place on 18 June 2024. The report said that the Ukrainian delegation met with Heysem Ömeri, one of the HTS leaders.
The delegation allegedly requested the release of known IS chief Abu Omar al-Shishani and some radical Chechen and Georgian fighters held in an HTS prison. In exchange for the release of the gang members, Kyiv reportedly offered 75 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Due to power rivalries and various disputes, HTS keeps a large number of radicalised militants in its prisons in Idlib. Some of them are Chechen and Georgian terrorists who fought against Russia in the 2000s and then travelled to Syria and joined the so-called jihad against the local authorities.
Omar al-Shishani, whom the Kyiv government recently asked to release, was a known “war minister” of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known as ISIS, IS, or Daesh.
Ukraine’s interests in Africa
Kyiv, which started to experience a serious shortage of soldiers in its war with Russia, is known to be looking for new reinforcements for the frontline. According to Aydınlık, Ukraine first emptied its own prisons and then established close relations with the PKK.
Ukraine is also allegedly planning to train PKK militants to carry out attacks through Syrian groups in order to increase the costs and casualties of Russian forces operating in the region.
In August, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger appealed to the UN to take action against Ukraine for its “supporting terrorism,” as it was reported that the country was collaborating with local Tuareg rebels to destabilise the African region.
In early September, the Al-Qaeda unit operating in Burkina Faso claimed responsibility for an attack in Barsalogho, including on civilians. Before that, the spokesman of the Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR) of Ukraine’s Defence Ministry, Andriy Yusov, stated that Ukraine supported a number of African groups, including Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), operating in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.
