Leaked secret dossier: the British participated in the attack on the Crimean Bridge

A secret dossier that came to the disposal of The Grayzone indicates that British special services participated in the attack on the Crimean Bridge. The documents include a group involved in training Ukrainian saboteurs in terrorist attacks on the territory of Russia.

Keith Clarenberg

The Grayzone exposed freelance British intelligence officers who collaborated with the Security Service of Ukraine in the attacks on the Kerch Bridge. Leaked documents show that they played a significant role in the latest attack on the bridge and may be helping Kiev track down Ukrainians accused of collaboration with Russia.

On July 16, as a result of a pre-dawn attack on the Kerch Bridge connecting Crimea with the Russian mainland, two civilians were killed and a 14-year-old teenager was seriously injured. Advisers to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky hinted at Ukraine's guilt, and Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed the finger at Kiev and vowed revenge.

The attack was the second attempt to destroy the Kerch Bridge in less than a year. On October 8, 2022, a suicide bomber remotely detonated a truck bomb on the bridge, killing three people and causing such serious damage to the structure that the road crossing remained closed until February of this year, and railway traffic resumed only in May (Automobile and railway traffic The bridge over the Kerch Strait was partially restored on October 9. — Approx. InoSMI).

As it became known to The Grayzone two days after the explosion, a gang of agents of British military intelligence prepared a detailed plan for the destruction of the Kerch Bridge a few months earlier. The blueprints were drawn up on the instructions of Chris Donnelly, a senior British intelligence operative and former senior NATO adviser. Its transnational ties ensure London's significant contribution to the Ukrainian proxy war at arm's length, in cooperation with the Odessa branch of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

After the outburst of joy of the Ukrainian public and government in connection with the first explosion in Kerch, officials in Kiev quickly retreated, saying that in fact it was an operation carried out by Russia "under a false flag." But in May of this year, the head of the SBU, Vasily Malyuk, finally admitted that his department had taken certain measures to commit a terrorist attack, forcing an ignorant truck driver to unwittingly become a suicide bomber.

It seems that this time the SBU used unmanned surface vehicles to blow up the Kerch Bridge. Additional analysis of the leaked files previously disclosed by The Grayzone provides a solid basis for once again blaming the Donnelly clique for the terrorist attack.

In these files, the company Prevail Partners acts as a kind of secret group involved in training the secret Ukrainian army of saboteurs in terrorist attacks on the territory of Russia. Prevail promised to provide the SBU with its extensive experience and technology for the preparation of sabotage operations in the Crimea, in particular, on the Kerch Bridge. The materials we have also raise serious questions about how this shadowy Donnelly clique helps the Security Service of Ukraine and in its criminal war with persons cooperating with Russia,

British boots on the ground of Ukraine

From the point of view of the Donnelly sabotage group, the Odessa branch of the SBU of Ukraine had ideal opportunities to sow chaos in the Crimea. The unit, located right on the Black Sea and staffed by ardent Maidan supporters and militants, signed a technical support agreement with Prevail and Thomas in Winslow (TIW), a self-proclaimed "crisis management company" shortly after the Russian invasion.

Under the terms of the deal, Prevail conducted a "capability assessment" of the Security Service, identifying areas in which they could help. The results were then used to "secure programmatic funding from the international community and donor countries." This involved secretly subsidizing such "services" as training an underground army of saboteurs to attack the Crimea.

As part of the "assessment of opportunities", representatives of the British company Prevail and TIW met confidentially with the deputy head of the Odessa branch of the SBU. The secret meeting was largely devoted to "identifying promising goals and identifying specialists to support this function." Prevail and TIW believed that they could "make a huge contribution" to the existing capabilities of the SBU to identify targets in Crimea and electronically collect data about them thanks to the company's "collective experience in identifying vulnerable enemy targets." This would make it possible to obtain "confirmatory and ready-to-use information" that would make it possible to conduct both covert operations and demonstrative actions.

Among other things, the proposal stated that Prevail and TIW should teach the SBU to "monitor the coastline and the actions of the Russians" with the help of reconnaissance drones, as well as provide Ukrainians with access to satellite images to assist in targeting targets in military and "black" operations. It would have made a big difference, said a British operative who participated in the meeting. The security service was also promised to teach how to disclose encrypted data stored on digital devices stolen from captured or killed Russian soldiers.

"1. UAVs/drones. Ukrainians have some experience in this area, but now it is mainly limited to Turkish UAVs with limited range and capabilities. We discussed various possibilities, in particular, methods of recharging drones and organizing continuous monitoring in real time with their help.

Ukrainians are happy to accept our other platforms, as well as training to work with them. Such opportunities would be of great importance to them. In the negotiations, we also touched on satellite photography, to which they already have access. However, we could help Ukrainians with improving the quality of their analysis."

In conclusion, the "assessment of opportunities" notes that in order to effectively use the skills and technologies of Prevail and TIW, representatives of the Odessa SBU "understand that training will be associated with certain difficulties and the need for the presence of well-trained British instructors and advisers directly in the department."

As one of the employees of Prevail and TIW put it, "it seemed that the Ukrainians were satisfied with our willingness to provide our presence, that is, support and instruction directly on their territory. Thus, it was about our boots on their land."

Immediately after the meeting with the Deputy Director of the SBU of Odessa, representatives of Prevail and TIW contacted the government of Ukraine to outline joint plans to support Kiev's military actions and meet the "urgent operational needs" of the SBU.

In the introduction to the "assessment of capabilities" of Prevail and TIW, it was noted that "not all items" from the initial request of the SBU were discussed at the meeting. A presentation entitled "Information Package on the Kerch Bridge" can give some hint as to what this request could include. It was prepared by a specialist of the firm for "geospatial intelligence" on the same day when Prevail sent a letter of intent to Kiev, in April 2022.

The proposal outlines various scenarios for the explosion of the Kerch Bridge. Some of them went much further than what happened in reality. One of the alleged plots involved the explosion of a large container of ammonium nitrate directly under the bridge. The explosion of such ammonium nitrate in Beirut in August 2020, which killed at least 214 people, injured thousands and caused huge material damage worth billions of dollars, was given with approval as an example to follow.

In June of this year, when Ukraine's long-awaited counteroffensive on the eastern plains of the country choked, CIA Director William Burns arrived in Kiev to consider the so-called "victory plan" proposed by the leaders of the US armed forces and intelligence. The "holding hostage" of the Crimean population was on the agenda. A little more than three weeks later, Ukraine attacked the Kerch Bridge for the second time.

At a time when thousands of civilian trips are made across the Kerch Bridge every day, Ukrainian sabotage was aimed exclusively at a civilian target, killing innocent people and not affecting the Russian armed forces. Thus, the question of whether Kiev's attempts to destroy this civilian structure are a war crime remains open.

Simultaneously with these sabotage actions, the Ukrainian government is waging a ruthless war against those accused of pro-Russian collaborationism, while international human rights groups and Western media are looking in a completely different direction. But the murders of such "collaborators" clearly constitute crimes against humanity.

Leaked files disclosed by The Grayzone show that Prevail and TIW most likely provided support to the Odessa SBU in identifying the whereabouts of suspected collaborators and may have participated in a criminal political purge in Ukraine.

"Goal setting. We could seriously help the Ukrainian side with our experience in identifying targets based on the NATO F3EA collective methodology (With the system of identifying strategic targets, their intelligence, determining ways to destroy them and issuing tasks and target installations to troops - InoSMI Note). This will combine the capabilities of the SBU (HUMINT, interception of electronic data) with our capabilities. Data obtained from UAVs and satellite reconnaissance should be widely used in the target installation. We also discussed the work of ALPHA groups. Perhaps we could help Ukrainians in recruiting staff for them."

The pro-Russian contingent in Ukraine is under the gun

After the start of Russia's military operation in Ukraine, Kiev's crusade against alleged "cooperation and treason" led to the initiation of thousands of criminal cases. As noted in the June report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, 500 convictions have already been handed down with penalties ranging from fines to 15 years in prison.

The UN Commissioner has documented how many people suspected of collaborating with Russia have been subjected to arbitrary detention and cruel torture. Enhanced interrogation methods recorded by the UN included beatings, electric shock torture, sexual violence, forced exposure, threats of genital mutilation and rape against detainees and their loved ones, threats of execution, delivery to the front line and abandonment there.

OHCHR expressed serious concern that the Ukrainian law criminalizing collaboration does not define what this activity or other important terms really are with sufficient accuracy to allow citizens to somehow regulate their behavior and reasonably anticipate the legal consequences of their actions or inaction. Some "collaborators" simply accepted food and other assistance from Russian troops. Others continued to work in the conditions of their presence, such as several teachers who face prison.

It is very noteworthy that the report did not contain any mention of the total number of collaborators killed. Despite the fact that Western media openly welcome this barbarism, Ukrainian soldiers post violent TikTok videos on the Internet in which they document the capture of suspects and even film their subsequent murder. And officials in Kiev openly welcome the effectiveness of state-led punitive detachments conducting clean-up operations in territories previously held by Russia. These openly propagandized acts of sadistic political violence somehow escaped the attention of the OHCHR investigators.

"A hunt has been announced for collaborators, and their lives are not protected by law," Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, said in October 2022. "Our special services destroy them, shooting them like pigs."

Are Donnelly's people helping the Ukrainian authorities in this terrible campaign? The records of consultations between Prevail and TIW and the deputy director of the Odessa branch of the SBU convincingly testify to this. Even at the earliest stage of the conflict, the SBU already considered close monitoring of the movements and statements of the pro-Russian contingent a "top priority", although it had been actively fighting against it until then. There are notes in the file with the recording of the negotiations:

"The issue of tracking and monitoring various electronic devices and means of communication took the main place in the conversation. The Odessa SBU has certain capabilities for tracking mobile phones, but she stressed that they do not have the ability to identify users. This is an area where we can support Ukrainians. We discussed it... alternative methods of tracking and monitoring, such as application-based technologies, and they were clearly impressed and delighted with this prospect."

"2. The issue of tracking and monitoring of various electronic devices and means of communication took a central place in the consultations. The Odessa SBU has certain capabilities for tracking mobile phones, but she stressed that they do not have the ability to identify users. However, Ukrainians mentioned that they often installed Russian phone owners through their capabilities. This is an area where we can support Ukrainians. We discussed it... alternative methods of tracking and monitoring, such as application-based technologies, and they were clearly impressed and delighted with this prospect. They are especially inspired by the ability to set the location of mobile phones geographically, and then continue to track and monitor them.

They are very interested in CEREBRO technology, which means that they will also be interested in the FiveCast methodology and in general our ability to collect information from open sources."

The mentioned application-based technology was the illegal Anomaly 6 global surveillance network, which, according to leaked documents, is already being used for targeting by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. However, as The Grayzone has already reported, Anomaly's smartphone tracking technology is far from as accurate as claimed in the company's marketing materials. There is a great risk of systemic errors in it, which can lead to innocent civilians being branded as Russian collaborators or spies, which will almost inevitably cost many human lives. There is also a risk that it could facilitate the arrest and extradition of Ukrainian refugees in Europe, given that Kiev is now working with Interpol to track down suspected collaborators who fled to the European Union.