American newspaper reveals `12 secret bases` of the CIA in Ukraine 0
(Dan Tri) – The New York Times reports that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has turned Ukraine into one of Russia’s spy centers for more than a decade.
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) headquarters (Photo: Reuters).
The New York Times quoted a series of current and former officials in the US, Ukraine and Europe as saying that US experts had funded and organized a network of secret bases on Ukrainian territory and turned Kiev into a secret base.
According to the New York Times, Ukraine currently has at least 12 secret spy bases located near the Russian border to collect all information about Russia as well as coordinate drone attacks and a network of spies.
New York Times reporters were able to visit one such forward combat base located in an underground bunker.
The New York Times quoted a senior Ukrainian intelligence official, General Sergey Dvoretsky, as saying this base was funded and equipped by the CIA.
The Ukrainian general told the New York Times that the US intelligence agency specifically equipped the base with communications equipment and mainframe computer servers, and said the bunker was also used to hack into US satellites.
According to the New York Times, the CIA and other US intelligence agencies also provided Ukraine with information about Russian military movements and missile attacks throughout the ongoing conflict between Moscow and Moscow.
The US newspaper also said that active cooperation between the two countries’ intelligence agencies began almost immediately after the Maidan event in 2014 and Kiev has become `one of the most important intelligence partners`.
The New York Times revealed that the Ukrainian government actively sought US approval by specifically transferring Russian secrets to them, because the US is not very interested in information that does not bring emotional value.
In 2015, the then head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, General Valery Kondratiuk, handed over a stack of top secret files, including information about the Russian Navy’s Northern Fleet and submarine designs.
A year earlier, the head of Ukraine’s internal security service (SBU) Valentin Nalivaichenko approached the local CIA and MI6 leaders, seeking a trilateral partnership and asking them to help him rebuild.
In 2016, the CIA began training an elite Ukrainian special forces force called Unit 2245. General Kirill Budanov, currently head of Ukrainian military intelligence, is also a former member of Unit 2245 trained by the CIA.
The New York Times said that American spies also provided specialized training to members of the Fifth Directorate, a paramilitary unit established by Kiev to operate against Russia.
US intelligence agents also played an important role in Ukraine’s response to Russia’s start of its military campaign in February 2022.
`Without them, we would have no way to fight Russia,` Ivan Bakanov, another former head of the SBU, told the New York Times.
Russia has repeatedly pointed out threats to national security from increased US activities on Ukrainian territory and Kiev’s ambitions in NATO.
