Jihadist tells Ekot about how he got help from Ukraine

Published 13 December 2024 at 08.36

Foreign. Kiev has dismissed reports of its involvement in al-Qaeda's conquest of Syria as Russian disinformation. But now a “rebel” in Syria is telling Sweden's Radio “Ekot” about how he was trained by the Ukrainians.

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Fria Tider already reported at the beginning of December, referring to information in the Ukrainian media, that Kiev supported the jihadists before they began their victory march against Damascus.

Ukraine has officially denied the information. But a “rebel” now confirms to Ekot that Ukrainian special forces trained them in the use of drones and that the support was very helpful in the fight against the secular Assad regime.

– We have cooperated with Ukrainian special forces because we have a common enemy: Russia, says Suheil Hammoud to Ekot.

“To the great benefit”
According to information, the cooperation should have included online education, where Ukrainian experts, with the help of interpreters, taught the rebels to use drones – a tactic that has been successful for Ukraine in their own war against Russia.

– Ukraine has benefited greatly from drones and so have we, says Hammoud, which was fought for the “Free Syrian Army”.

In addition, the Washington Post reports that Ukraine donated 150 drones to terrorist-labeled HTS, which was formerly part of al-Qaeda but officially broke with the notorious terrorist organization to burnish its image.

Which country provided Ukraine with the 150 drones sent to al-Qaeda is unclear.

After Assad's fall, Ukraine's intelligence service called the GUR Russian retreat from Syria too “shameful” and hailed regime collapse. Russia, which has long supported Assad, has at the same time lost its grip on Syria in what is described as a dramatic development.