On Tuesday, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia accused Ukraine of supporting militants in Syria fighting under the command of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an al-Qaeda offshoot that led the takeover of Aleppo.
The accusation came a few days after the Kyiv Post reported that Islamist groups based in Idlib that are taking part in the offensive have received training from the Khimik group, a special unit of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate (abbreviated GUR or HUR).
“Ukrainian military instructors from the GUR are present… training HTS fighters for combat operations,” Nebenzia said at the UN. He said HTS has “not only not concealed the fact that they are supported by Ukraine, but they are also openly flaunting this.”
The Kyiv Post report cited posts on Islamist social media sites and said the GUR has trained HTS militants on tactics developed during the Ukraine war, including the use of drones. The Kyiv Post also cited a Ukrainian intelligence source who claimed the GUR’s Khimik group was responsible for a September 15 attack on a Russian military base outside of Aleppo.
It was around that same time that Russian media reported that Ukraine had sent around 250 military specialists to Idlib to train extremist fighters. “The Ukrainian military is training militants affiliated with the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) under the command of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham for the use of drones, and technologies to develop them with regard to the ability to increase flight speeds, photography and targeting,” a source told Sputnik on September 17.
TIP is a Uyghur militant group founded in Pakistan that seeks to create an Islamic state in China’s Xinjiang province and has a branch in Syria. The Kyiv Post report also mentioned TIP as one of the groups the GUR has trained.
So what are you going to do about that, Putin? Reportedly Putin is sending Wagner units to Syria. This is a good idea, if true. Putin should send a brigade of Chechens and Wagner because they are the experts in urban warfare, and if Syria wants Aleppo recovered, it's going to need them so they can take back the city without bombing it into the Stone Age – again.
Wagner is no more. I think all this would not have happened with Prigozhin, but he was too outspoken for his own good.
Aleppo has already been mostly liberated by the SDF (Kurds+), including the airport apparently, which rushed to replace the retreating Syrian Army. Yesterday Kevork of Syriana Analysis (YT channel), who is native from Aleppo, reported that his contacts in the city said that the Salafists had pulled out completely from it.
The main problem Syria (Damascus) has is rather to the south of Aleppo, where the Islamists have taken the main highway and threaten Hama.
My understanding is that "Wagner" – or whatever those units are called now – are in Africa and have been for some time. They are now called "Africa Corps" and the latest report I've seen is that some of them are in Equatorial Guinea.
Syria reports are all over the place. I'd take all of them with a grain of salt.
Elijah Magnier says the Kurdish positions in Aleppo are not secure. As of 9 hours ago, here is his report:
There r still pockets of Kurdish and Syrian government forces fighting in #Aleppo city. They have been warned to surrender. The execution of many government forces captured during the assault did not encourage them to surrender. These pockets can't hold their positions for long.
And from 23 hours ago:
Private and exclusive: A large number of #Syrian allies forces have established a strong base and line of defence in Homs, leaving #Hama under the control of the Syrian army.
In the oil-rich realm of Obiang?, center of so many conspiracies, inspiration of “The Dogs of War”… That’s new to me but I’ll take your word for it.
They have been indeed renamed to Africa Corps but it’s not just a change in name: they have been put under the direct control of the Minister of Defense of Russia. Any other ex-Wagners are also under direct Kremlin control now (integrated in the regular Army), except probably those who moved to Belarus, of which little is known anymore (their camps were dismantled).
The Kurds won’t surrender most likely: they have nothing to lose, they will be massacred if they raise the white flag, it’s a fight to death. The Kurds/SDF held those positions previously when the Islamists occupied Aleppo before, it’ll be hard for the fascists to conquer those neighborhoods.
Seems to be true, however the most interesting bit I'd take from all this is how Turkey and Ukraine have become best friends in the wider contex of WW3 by Proxy in the Greater Mediterranean Arc, which includes West Africa, where Ukrainian military was seen operating along with Azawadi (Tuareg) separatists in Mali, probably also in connection with Turkey and their proxy in Tripoli (Libya-Islamists).
The situation seems a bit convoluted, at this time, to make solid efforts at a true and lasting peace…
I keep telling you: Nothing less than total subjugation or destruction of humanity would bring about true and lasting peace.
Break out the leg irons!
Ukraine has also sent US weapons to HTS…! What's the point of training without provision of US arms…?!
RUssia gets stupider every day, while Poland gets smarter every day
Turns out those Evangelical Protestants may have been right about all that talk about the coming "Armageddon" in Israel. Events seem to be taking shape.
Not really. Russia and China want to disrupt the post-WWII world arrangement, which favored the US/EU to their disadvantage.
Putin is delusional and thinks he a great man; he's not.
Turns out those Evangelical Protestants may have been right about all that talk about the coming "Armageddon" in Israel. Events seem to be taking shape.
Fired Fox News Journalist Tucker Carlson doing what Fake News refuses to do: https://x.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1864092222091657502
Tucker Carlson? Really?
Total Russian propaganda. Completely one-sided and distorted. Zero credibility. Paid liar.
Ukrainian trained=CIA trained.
The West using Islamic fighters to further Western strategies? Old news.