WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th September, 2021) CNN, citing unnamed sources, claimed that the United States supported with cash and advice last year's operation by Ukrainian security services, which tried to lure, through Belarus, 33 Russians suspected of involvement in events in Donbas.
The US broadcaster reported that Ukrainian intelligence officials said the Kiev-led operation "got US cash, technical assistance and advice from the CIA on how to draw the Russian mercenaries in." It also cited a senior US official as saying the claims are "false."
According to the report, three former senior Ukrainian military intelligence officials described to CNN how they organized the operation aimed at luring Russians to face prosecution for alleged atrocities committed in eastern Ukraine.
The Ukrainian agents allegedly posed as a Russian private military company, recruiting for highly paid security jobs in Venezuela. Hundreds of would-be Russian contractors applied for work and started to reveal things about themselves, sending military IDs and evidence of their military experience, including photos and videos from Donbas.
The plan failed because the Belarusian authorities interfered. They detained the Russians in Belarus and later handed them over to Russia.
