America’s CIA has been overseeing a covert training program for members of Ukraine’s special forces in preparation for a potential conflict, former US intelligence and national security officials have reportedly claimed.
The mission has supposedly been underway since the 2014 re-absorption of Crimea and is based at an undisclosed facility in the southern US, Yahoo News revealed on Thursday.
The military boot camp has included exercises in firearms, camouflage techniques, and land navigation, as well as focusing on tactics such as “cover and move,” former officials said.
However, a serving unnamed high-ranking officer reportedly insisted that there was never an offensive purpose behind the scheme. “The purpose of the training, and the training that was delivered, was to assist in the collection of intelligence,” the source claimed.
As per the report, the program, which is overseen by paramilitaries working for the CIA’s Ground Department, was established under US President Barack Obama’s administration and has been continued and modified by Washington’s subsequent leaders.