REPORT: Ukraine Sent Drone Operators And Drones To U.S. Designated Terrorist Group

Ukraine reportedly deployed drone operators and drones Tuesday to a group that the U.S. has designated as a terrorist organization.

The Syrian rebels who swept to power in Damascus last weekend reportedly received drones and other support from Ukrainian intelligence operatives who sought to undermine Russia and its Syrian allies, said sources familiar with Ukrainian military activities abroad, according to The Washington Post. About 20 experienced drone operators and approximately 150 first-person-view drones were sent by Ukrainian intelligence to the rebel headquarters in Idlib, Syria, four to five weeks ago.

This support was directed to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the leading rebel group based there, as per knowledgeable sources, WaPo reported. Although the aid from Kyiv played only a modest role in overthrowing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Western intelligence sources believe it was notable as part of a broader Ukrainian effort to strike covertly at Russian operations in the Middle East, Africa and inside Russia itself.

HTS, originally known as Jabhat al-Nusrah or the Nusrah Front, Al-Qaeda’s former Syrian branch, transformed into a coalition of Sunni Islamist insurgent groups based in northern Syria. After a series of splits and strategic disagreements, notably in 2016 when its leader Abu Muhammad al-Jawlani renounced ties with Al-Qaeda, the Nusrah Front merged with other anti-regime factions in 2017 to form HTS, which later established the Syrian Salvation Government to administer its territories. In 2018, a faction that remained loyal to Al-Qaeda broke away to form Hurras al-Din, continuing as Al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria.

Ukraine expanded its military intelligence efforts to other regions to challenge Russia indirectly and, according to a June 3 report