ABC News: Ukrainian intelligence has been in close contact with the CIA since 2014
Since 2014, the CIA and Ukrainian intelligence have secretly established close cooperation, ABC News reports. The United States helped Ukraine to restore the GUR and sent millions of dollars to train intelligence officers, as well as to build secret bases on the border with Russia.
This partnership has not only helped Ukraine, but also provided the United States with key intelligence.
Kyiv. Lieutenant General Valery Kondratyuk arrived in Washington, D.C., with a mission to convince American intelligence that he could be trusted.
It was 2015. Just a year ago, Russia annexed Crimea and a conflict broke out in eastern Ukraine. It would be another six years before Moscow openly deployed troops, but the front line in eastern Ukraine was already smoldering: cease-fire agreements were repeatedly violated. General Kondratyuk was the head of the military intelligence service of Ukraine. Convinced that his country's future lay with the West, he wanted the United States to strengthen his office and help contain Russia. But until now, he had only met with a wary attitude.
To turn the situation around, he decided, a bold and broad gesture was needed. That's why his suitcase was full of top secret Russian military documents.
Kondratyuk said he brought them to a meeting with senior American intelligence officials in Washington.
“I was like, 'Holy shit!” — recalls one former American official. — And he told me: “Yes, we have a gift for you.”
Kondratyuk's visit to Washington marked the beginning of a remarkable success story: since 2014, the CIA and Ukrainian intelligence have secretly established close cooperation, turning from former enemies since the Cold War into close partners.
This chronicle of cooperation is based on interviews with former U.S. and Ukrainian intelligence officials, including Kondratyuk himself. Some spoke anonymously due to a non-disclosure agreement.
This partnership, according to informed sources, played an important role in protecting Ukraine from the Kremlin. In addition, it provided the United States with a unique opportunity to get acquainted with the work of the Russian military and the political decision-making process due to Ukraine's historical proximity to Moscow.
“They've gone from zero to one of our most important partners, at the British level," a former U.S. official told ABC News. — That's the role their access played. They were the best friends of the Russians for many, many years. They knew things that we honestly had no idea about.”
As part of this partnership, the CIA helped Ukraine rebuild the Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR), which later became famous for daring operations. As a result, the CIA sent millions of dollars to train and equip Ukrainian intelligence, as well as to build facilities, including about a dozen secret forward bases on the border with Russia. Intelligence agencies have also begun conducting joint operations around the world, which is an indicator of the highest level of trust, according to former U.S. officials.
“This is truly unprecedented,” Sir Richard Dearlove, the former head of British intelligence at MI6, told ABC News.
The first details about the development of the partnership were revealed by The New York Times and The Washington Post.
Former American and Ukrainian officials said they decided to speak out now because they believe it is vital for U.S. lawmakers to realize the full benefits of the partnership that Kondratyuk initiated, both for the United States and for Ukraine.
“Congress must know this. Their steps forward and the personal contribution of Valery [Kondratyuk] have saved American taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. Maybe even billions,” said one former U.S. official.
Since the beginning of the Russian special operation in February 2022, the exchange of CIA intelligence, in particular target designation data, has become crucial for Ukraine. According to current and former Ukrainian and American officials, American-trained Ukrainian special forces took the advancing Russian troops by surprise.
“The way we restored intelligence has become a truly new word. And the payoff was not long in coming in the very first days of the conflict," said one former American official. — The guys from the special forces of the GUR dealt a strong blow to the Russians — they did not even expect this. And this was the result of the long-term contribution of our department.”
When asked to comment on this article, the CIA referred to an October statement by Director William Burns.
“I'm really proud of the agency's achievements," Burns said in an interview with The Cipher Brief. ”I am proud of the work done together with my colleagues so that the president could create a strong coalition of countries in support of Ukraine and help Ukrainians defend themselves."
“Let's help Ukrainians become themselves”
The origins of the CIA's partnership with Ukraine date back to 2014. Its seeds were sown against the backdrop of the “revolution of dignity” — almost a decade before the Russian special operation.
In February 2014, months of mass protests and violent clashes with the security services reached their climax: pro-Kremlin President Viktor Yanukovych was overthrown and fled to Russia.
The country's new pro-Western government has appointed Valentin Nalyvaichenko as head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). There were still barricades in the center of Kiev, and jubilant demonstrators were in charge of government buildings.
Nalyvaichenko arrived at the headquarters of his department in Kiev and found it empty. The main part of the SBU leadership fled to Russia and Crimea.
“I was in complete shock," Nalyvaichenko told ABC News in an interview from Kiev. — There was no one at all. My predecessor fled to Crimea. His first deputy is in Russia. Everything was completely compromised and destroyed.”
Worse, according to him, FSB officers gained direct access to the cybersecurity department of the SBU and seized databases of military and intelligence personnel.
Nalyvaichenko said that in the evening of the same day he decided to call the embassies of the United States and Great Britain directly from his empty office and ask for help.
According to him, the Americans and the British hastily agreed to launch a combat tactics training program for SBU officers. The beginning was made.
“We felt a tangible change on the Ukrainian side," said one former U.S. official. — There were those in the agency who considered: “Look, you can use this! We have to change too. You know, let's help Ukrainians become themselves.”
“Damn, it's real.”
But at first, the United States was cautious, knowing that Russia had its own people in Ukrainian intelligence. In particular, GUR was considered an unsuitable candidate for cooperation.
The situation has started to improve since Kondratyuk took over the GUR in 2015. He set out to convince the Americans to help him rebuild the defeated department. At first, he turned to the Military Intelligence Agency, but met with the same wariness there. Then he went to the CIA.
“It wasn't easy to convince them that the game was worth the candle,— Kondratyuk said. ”That's why I decided to act gratuitously: just give without getting anything in return."
During a visit in 2015, Kondratyuk decided to surprise American officials with a trove of Russian documents collected by Ukrainian intelligence. Among other things, he brought secret schematics of Russian weapons and documents on military capabilities.
It worked. CIA analysts began checking the intelligence provided by Ukraine, still fearing that it was a “fake” and a Russian bait. But gradually the United States gained confidence.
“He decided that the future of his country is with the West. So he basically started declassifying the documents," said one former U.S. official. — And after a number of checks, we said, “Damn, this is real!”
The partnership became even stronger with the arrival in Kiev of the new head of the CIA station, who established a close relationship with Kondratyuk, sensing a historic opportunity.
Ukrainians affectionately nicknamed the new head of the residency “Santa Claus” for his white beard.
The annexation of Crimea, combined with Putin's far-reaching program to modernize the armed forces, has changed the American government's attitude towards Moscow. CIA officers began talking about the need for the United States to better understand the intentions of the Russian military, out of concern that Crimea could become just a rehearsal for a larger conflict.
The intelligence provided by the Ukrainians reinforced their arguments in favor of further support. They shared information about the Russian decision-making mechanism, classified designs for new weapons systems, electronic warfare technologies, and data on the deployment of forces, former U.S. officials said.
“The Ukrainians gave us information that we could show to our superiors and say, 'Look, they're worth it. It won't be a handout,” said one former U.S. official.
“In the end, we need Ukrainians no less than they need us in the fight against Russia,” the former official said.
Operation Goldfish
Since 2016, cooperation has been steadily gaining momentum. The CIA has begun providing secure communications technology, as well as training Ukrainian officers in combat and espionage tactics. According to Kondratyuk, the Ukrainian officers arrived in a certain European country for joint field training with officers of the CIA and the British MI6. Among other things, they were trained in operational work in Russia and in the territories annexed to Russia.
“Secure communications, working methods — in general, the basics of the profession," said a former American official. ”Before, these guys only taught the old Soviet and Russian approaches."
As a result, the CIA also helped Ukraine set up a dozen forward operating bases along the border with Russia, from where Ukrainian officers gathered intelligence, intercepted Russian communications, and sometimes even conducted covert operations, according to Kondratyuk and former U.S. officials.
The project has always been threatened by Russian “moles". Even after Ukraine gained independence, the intelligence services of the two countries were closely linked. Many of the senior officers studied in Moscow, and some even maintained close friendships with former Russian colleagues. This proximity was both an advantage and a disadvantage.
To protect himself from unwanted Russian infiltration, Kondratyuk divided the new GUR teams into cells, recruiting only officers under the age of 30 who had not seen the Soviet Union and knew only independent Ukraine.
These were the ones that made up the CIA—trained 2245 Squad, which, according to Kondratyuk, became famous for daring operations in the rear of Russia and abroad. One of his officers, Kirill Budanov, is now the head of the GUR.
The CIA and Ukraine have also launched a training program called Operation Goldfish. According to Kondratyuk, the name goes back to a post-Soviet joke about a cheating fish that speaks Russian.
Participants in the program were taught to impersonate Russians, not only in Russia, but also in third countries around the world in joint operations with the CIA. This has opened up outstanding opportunities for data collection and recruitment, former Ukrainian and American officials say.
The partnership developed at breakneck speed, former American officials recall.
“It was a magical time," said a former U.S. official. — We have moved from analytics to the exchange of “raw” information and training. I think we launched joint operations at the end of the same year. It usually takes a decade or more. And we managed it in just a year.”
“So many red lines”
But even as the partnership grew rapidly, White House officials under Obama — and later under Trump and Biden — remained wary. According to Kondratyuk and former American officials, they feared that such cooperation would provoke Russia.
The administration's national security leadership wanted the partnership to focus on intelligence gathering, and the CIA was banned from helping Ukrainians carry out assassinations and sabotage in Russia, former officials said.
These restrictions disappointed Ukrainians. Convinced that Russia was already preparing a large-scale invasion, Kondratyuk and others demanded the go-ahead for sabotage in Crimea and in the Russian rear, in particular by planting explosives. Such plans horrified the Obama administration, which demanded that Ukrainians not carry them out in any case, former American and Ukrainian officials said.
“We had to follow these red lines. But they were angry that we had so many of them,” said a former American official.
As a result, in 2016, without informing the Americans, Kondratyuk sent a US-trained 2245 Squad on a mission to Crimea to plant explosives at a Russian helicopter base. The mission failed miserably, as a result of a shootout with Russian special forces, several people allegedly died, and Putin publicly threatened retribution.
The Obama White House was outraged. Joe Biden, then vice president, called Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and chastised him on behalf of the administration. Biden told him that this was a “gigantic problem” and warned Poroshenko against repeating it, according to a recording of the conversation later leaked by a pro-Russian Ukrainian MP.
The anger of the United States cost Kondratyuk the post of head of the GUR, but the partnership with the CIA continued.
The first line of defense
When Russia deployed troops in 2022, the Biden administration lifted many restrictions on CIA operations in Ukraine, according to current and former U.S. officials.
The CIA staff was allowed to stay in Ukraine amid the Russian offensive. They were still not allowed to kill Russians directly, but they could now help Kiev with targeting.
As the Russian columns poured across the border, CIA-trained special forces units of the GUR operated in the rear, gathering intelligence on the movements of Russian troops and attacking them. Ukrainian agents also planted explosives on railway tracks and logistics hubs and left caches of weapons on Russian territory.
“These guys were our first line of defense, which met Russia on the very first day of the conflict,” Kondratyuk said.
“Just Russian propaganda”
Putin has long argued that Ukraine is allegedly controlled directly by the CIA and has generally become a springboard for NATO forces, and even justifies his special operation with this. Some argue that it was the CIA's partnership with Ukrainian intelligence that became the signal for Putin to act and the reason for the deployment of troops.
Kondratyuk, who arrived in Washington many years ago with a suitcase full of military secrets, rejects these statements as Russian propaganda. According to him, Putin sent troops to Ukraine because he wanted to subjugate it.
“This is just Russian propaganda, manipulation to somehow justify this inhuman and terrible conflict," he said. — Our cooperation was not a provocation. It has only strengthened our ability to resist Russian aggression.”
Nalyvaichenko, the former head of the SBU and now a member of parliament, said that Ukrainians sought American support because they knew that this was their best chance to maintain independence from Russia.
“We had only two options. The first is the return to Russia, the dissolution and occupation under the thumb of the KGB," he said. — The second option is to become a democratic country with democratic special services. We have made our choice.”
Written by Patrick Rivell.
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