The leak of secret US documents indicates that the Main Directorate of Intelligence (MDI) of Ukraine was preparing strikes against Russian troops and mercenaries of the PMC "Wagner" in Syria. Kurdish formations were supposed to take part in this, but in December, Volodymyr Zelensky ordered to stop the planning of the operation, writes The Washington Post (WP).
The plan was to inflict losses on the Wagnerians in Syria and force them to redeploy forces from Ukraine.
The document, marked HCS-P, detailed how the MDI officers planned the attack. The head of intelligence Kyrylo Budanov refused to comment.
The documents indicate that Ukrainian military intelligence preferred to strike Russian forces with the help of drones. They planned to limit their strikes only to the "Wagnerians".
In order to implement such a plan, the fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) sought to undergo training, receive air defense systems and guarantees that their role in Ukrainian operations would be kept secret. The leadership of the SDF also forbade strikes against Russian positions in Kurdish areas.
In a comment to the newspaper, SDF spokesman Farhad Shami stated that "the documents you are talking about regarding our forces are not real" and that SDF forces "have never been a party to the Russian-Ukrainian war."
The publication writes that Turkey knew about the planning of the operation, and Turkish officials suggested that Ukraine carry out its attacks from Kurdish areas, and not from the northern and northwestern areas that hold other rebel groups, some of which are supported by Ankara.
It should be noted that Turkey opposes the SDF and considers their Peopleʼs Self-Defense Forces (YPG) a terrorist group. Instead, the SDF is the main partner of the US forces in Syria, where they often share bases within the mission to prevent the resurgence of the Islamic State.
"It is not clear why Zelensky ordered the MDI to stop planning the operation, but the document notes that he could have done so for a variety of reasons: pressure from the US, a limited number of Ukrainian drones, or doubts that the attacks could be successful," WP suggests.
Another factor could be the success of military intelligence operations in Russia.
The document describes in detail what a campaign of covert attacks by Ukraine could look like and what kind of escalation in response from the Russian Federation they could cause. The report compares attacks on well-protected "priority" Russian targets near Damascus and the Syrian coast, which would be the most dangerous but most expensive for Russia, with strikes on "Russian-linked oil infrastructure" in central Syria, which would cause losses to "Wagnerians".