Syrian Army recapturing Saraqib in Idlib Province, February 6, 2020. Photo: Mohamad Maruf/Sputnik International.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – A group of 250 instructors of the Ukrainian army arrived in the Idlib province in northern Syria to train militants from the terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham* in the production and modernization of drones, an informed Syrian source told Sputnik.
“There is confirmed information that the number of Ukrainian instructors who have already arrived in Idlib has reached 250 people. They have been distributed among production facilities in the city of Idlib and in the Jisir al-Shughur region,” the source said, specifying that the instructors are training in the production and modernization of unmanned aerial vehicles.
“More than 250 UAVs were delivered to HTS in Idlib in batches in the form of components along with civilian goods,” the source added.
“A group of Ukrainian intelligence officials visited Idlib several times more than a month ago to coordinate and plan strikes against Russian forces after debugging new technologies [of drone production]. Ukrainians and Americans are transferring battles from Ukraine to Syria in order to open a new front against Russian forces in Syria,” the source said.
Meanwhile, Syrian newspaper Al Watan reported that the head of Ukraine’s intelligence services, Kyrylo Budanov, has been in consistent contact with the head of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, attempting to recruit fighters to join the Ukrainian armed forces.
*banned in Russia as a terrorist organization
