CNN: Operation Against Wagner Mercenaries Had US Support

Although a US official called the claim "false."

The operation against the "Wagner fighters" was carried out "with the knowledge and expected support of the US." This is reported by CNN, citing statements from three former senior officials of Ukrainian military intelligence. 

Intelligence officials said the Ukraine-led operation had American money, technical assistance and CIA recommendations on how to recruit Russian mercenaries. 

The publication notes that Ukrainian agents posed as a Russian private military company, recruiting for security jobs paying above the standard rate, a lucrative contract of $5,000 a month to guard Venezuela's oil facilities. 

According to sources, hundreds of potential Russian contractors who applied for the jobs fell for the bait, giving Ukrainian intelligence an unprecedented opportunity to identify people suspected of war crimes. 

One former military intelligence officer said, "We started calling them and saying: 'Hey buddy, okay, tell me something about yourself. Maybe you're not really a fighter, maybe you're a plumber or something like that...' And then they started revealing things about themselves, sending us documents, military IDs and confirmation of where they had fought. And we were like, 'bingo, we can use this.'" 

One video showed a group of militants in eastern Ukraine holding the wreckage of an allegedly just-downed military aircraft. Some of the applicants were linked to the attack on flight MH17. 

Another officer said, "Two were present at the launch of the missile that shot down MH17. Four others were members of the group that shot down our military aircraft and killed at least 70 of our best people." He noted that identifying and punishing these people was "of great interest." 

Sources said the recruitment bait on the website went unnoticed, so Ukrainian intelligence officers simply selected people with close and contradictory ties to Ukraine and offered them fake contracts with Venezuela. They chose 28 Russians likely linked to illegal activity in Ukraine, plus five more with no such links. 

However, Moscow continued to allow travel to Belarus. Ukrainian sources said the unsuspecting recruits were taken by bus overland to Minsk, from where they thought they would soon fly to Venezuela. The failure of the operation was a serious blow to Ukrainian intelligence, which for nearly 18 months had worked to catch Russian suspects. 

Ukrainian officials did not respond to CNN's request for comment. 

Recall that on July 29, 2020, in Belarus 32 Wagner PMC fighters were detained. At the time, Belarusian authorities claimed they had been preparing provocations in the country ahead of the presidential election.  

After the detention, the Prosecutor General's Office, as well as the President of Ukraine, asked Belarus for extradition of the detainees, citing their participation in combat in Donbas. But instead, Belarus returned the "Wagner fighters" to Russia.

Later Russia claimed that Ukrainian special services were involved in the case of the fighters. Preliminary information suggested the "Wagner fighters" had been lured to Minsk to be detained by the SBU, but the operation fell through. There was also information that it had allegedly been disrupted by head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak, who ordered the fighters not to be detained. The Presidential Office denied all of this.

At the same time, the SBU confirmed in court that it had conducted intelligence activity on the "Wagner fighters" right before their detention. Also, one of the GUR leaders said the operation indeed was supposed to take place.  

Zelensky said the special operation to detain Wagner PMC fighters in Belarus was indeed being prepared, but not by Ukraine, although "other countries tried as hard as possible to 'drag' it into this story."